Sticky Situations
by Okami-chan
Summary: Mechanical sticky. A conglomeration of fics exploring femme Prowl's relationships with various mechs, mostly Sideswipe. Warnings within. Ch. 8: Ratchet gets drunk, Prowl takes him back to his quarters.
1. Twin Ties Part 1

This is part of what detracted my attention from _Star Crossed _for that three months of time. It took me a month to write the whole of this. I have a rather sizeable backlog (for me) and I'd like to give each of those fics the time and attention I gave _Privileges of Rank, _but I just don't have that much time, so expect more frequent updates until I no longer have a backlog.

TWIN TIES

******Series** Sticky Situation  
******Pairing** Prowl/Sideswipe, Sunstreaker/Sideswipe, implied Sunstreaker/Tracks (is it the same Tracks though shrug We'll say it is for now ;)  
******Warnings** Twincest Ahoy! (brief, but definitely there), Mechanical Sticky, Butchering of Prowl's Character.  
******Summary** Prowl, meet Sunstreaker. Sunstreaker, meet Prowl. Sunstreaker is an ass. Prowl freaks.  
**Author's Notes I (Useful Facts)** This is an AU in which the Transformers have humanoid genitalia (hence the warnings, right?), and Prowl is a femme. This is not the first for this universe that I've written, but it's the first with more of an actual plot rather than just plain ole smut. At this time Prowl doesn't have the same battle computer that lets her track 500 objects and predict their paths, and it alters her personality quite a bit.(Hence you will be seeing repeated jokes about the butchering of Prowl's character for this verse.)

Also worth noting was that this was originally intended to be an attempt to get a Lambo Sammich (which is Ilyusha's fault) but then Prowl freaked and turned 10 pages of hopeful smut into 40 pages of angst.

**Author's Notes II(also called Fun but Ultimately Useless Facts)** This is pre-war Prowl and Sideswipe; rather, the war's going on, but they're not yet participating. Therefore, they both have civilian alt modes. Something noteworthy, is that the Enforcer is not a military model of the Gingeroll. The Enforcer is strictly a mech model, and the Gingeroll is strictly a femme model. The Enforcer is actually an upgrade of a Tilt model: the Winged Tilt. (Much like Jazz's Sleektilt, which is an upgraded version of Fastilt model). Both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were upgraded to military Line models, and no major alterations were made besides the installation of armor and weapons.

This also means that femme!Prowl's appearance is rather different than usual. Imagine her like a larger, longer VW Beetle. (It gives her curves ;P) Ergo she's a bit like Bumblebee (except she's taller), maybe someday my art muse will be freed and allow me to draw her. This makes it feel like I'm creating an OC rather than playing with Prowl. -sigh-

* * *

The two vehicles wove in and out of traffic, laughter dancing through their assigned channel. The red Fineline flickered his turn signal, warning the blue Gingeroll following him of the turn he was about to take. He whipped onto the offramp, and she zipped right after him, narrowly missing the big Convoy that blared it's alarm at her. She tooted back at the larger bot, swinging her tail before snapping a hasty right turn after the Fineline.

Prowl sped after Sideswipe, pulling up along side him on the narrow one-lane road. "_You sure Sunstreaker won't mind me staying. Not even if it's a decacycle or two?"_

Sideswipe slowed, down shifting as he turned down another street. "_Trust me, he won't mind," _his voice trailed off with an unfinished thought.

She gunned her engine, laughing. "_Go ahead and say it, Sideswipe."_

"_Say what, Prowl?_"

They pulled up to a high-rise apartment building and she transformed.

In root mode, she spoke aloud, shaking the hum of the road from the mag plates covering her shoulders. "He has never minded before." She had no disillusion that she was special. She knew his reputation. Was there a femme in Kaon who didn't?

"Well, he hasn't."

She watched as he folded upright, admiring the smooth transition from vehicle to robot. The red mech grinned, turning to give her full view of what he called his best angles. Her fingers twitched to dig into his seams, and run her glossa over his holding area. She had no illusions that she was the only one who had such desires, nor the only one who'd had such a pleasure, even now.

Sideswipe keyed the entry code into the main entrance and gestured her inside, his darkening optics watching as she sashayed past. She pinged her fingers against his thin chestplate, pausing to take in the tidy interior. It wasn't the Towers, nor was it the lowest slums. While trash didn't litter the floors, it wasn't exactly spotless.

Sideswipe entered after her, the door sliding close behind him. He tilted his head, awaiting her evaluation. Finally, she turned to him, doorwings twitching.

"You could afford so much better."

His optics flashed and he grinned. She realized she had answered as he'd predicted. "The rent is just right for the amount of space we have."

She crossed her arms over her chestplate as he walked up to her, putting an arm over her doorwings. "Let me guess, you calculated it?"

He grinned that disarming grin of his, the one that made her fuel tank flutter. "Of course. Expect any less from me?"

"Not from the mech who judges a bar on how much they put in the cube and what consistency the energon is, rather than the location." She looked at him from under her chevron, quirking a grin.

Wide optics stared at her in all innocence. "Hey, we got out of there without being arrested didn't we? I told you, I know the beat cops there."

She rolled her doorwings as they stepped onto the lift. The lift doors closed and she shoved him away and into the wall. She pressed herself into him, hands running all over his body as she shoved her face toward his, her lips and nasal ridge barely grazing his own. "If you ever put us into that situation again," she pulled just out of his reach as he inched toward her moving lips, "I promise that you will be spending a recharge cycle, hardware running, strapped to your berth, and no one around." She pushed away, optics flashing as he stood there, panting, arms frozen in a movement to encircle her.

"Primus, Prowl, don't tempt me."

Her brow ridges lifted as she shook her head at him. "You're not supposed to be excited about that, Sides."

He caressed her neck, cupping his black hand over her jaw hinge. His lips brushed against hers. "Then don't make it sound so exciting," he murmured. He pulled away, optics bright and took her hand.

The lift opened as if it was waiting for that one cue and he pulled her into the hall. "Now, Sunny's probably working, but don't worry; we don't have to be quiet, just don't get in his way."

He keyed opened the first door on the right and once again gestured her in first.

She twitched her doorwings back as she moved into the apartment.

She froze, ventilators hitching as she took in the brilliant shine of limthzi crystals hanging from the ceiling. They rotated on an axis, sending sparkling shafts of light out from the luminescent liquid inside. She looked at the colors reflecting off of her arm plating, dancing over her cobalt finish in intricate patterns. The door slid closed and she turned to face Sideswipe, suddenly conscientious of the plating that seemed such a thin layer between her frame and his optics.

He stared at her, gaze intent on the arms she held before her and she dropped them to her side, turning her attention to anything but him.

"These are some beautiful paintings," she started haltingly.

She reached out to touch one frame, admiring the latticework that coiled around the still life painting, like the vines of a wirevein.

Sideswipe gently pulled her hand away from the frame. "Sunny has an eye for color. I'll eventually sell those when we have ones to replace them, or when Sunny gets tired of admiring his own work."

He guided her past an altar that looked like it should be in a museum and into a well-furbished living area. The couch looked to be one of the types that flattened into a mobile recharge berth, even connected to the power grid of the main building. The end tables and the foot rests looked to be made of some reflective material. She ran a wondering hand over the flat surface of one of the tables, the mottled stone smooth under her fingertips.

"Where the frag did you get marble?" She turned to her lover, optics wide. "Are you sure you're not one of the noblesparked."

He shrugged, but his optics glowed with pride in himself. "Just know how to manage my credits and how to strike bargain." He gestured to the couch. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll grab us a cube, and see what Sunny's doing." Sideswipe patted her shoulder as she sat down on the edge of the fine couch. He left her side, walking into the dispenser area as he shouted his brother's name. "Hey, Sunny! We have a guest here, you going to come out, or be unsociable."

The dispenser hummed to life, and she could hear the distinct sound of a cube filling. She didn't move, uncomfortable with the fine things around the home. Much finer than anything she was used to.

She knew she wasn't bad off herself, but the government salaries at her level would never afford her this much. Embarrassment sparked along her processor as she recalled the time he spent at her apartment, and how beggarly her sparsely decorated home must seem in comparison. Never had he offered a word of complaint, but she still felt uneasy. Home decorating and interior design had never been a concept she 

understood. She had what she needed, and a few things that meant something to her, but saw no need to upgrade the appearance of her home.

A second cube was being filled, and still no response from the mysterious brother.

Prowl twitched her doorwings, wanting to be active, instead of stewing in her own processor. "Would you like me to see if he's here?"

"Sure," Sideswipe responded from within the dispenser area. "He's here, but you can look in on him. Second door to the right, just down the hall. If he doesn't respond take a peek to see what he's working on. Just make sure he doesn't notice you."

Prowl stood, confident now that she had a goal in mind. She tread over the soft fabric that covered the floor, the material _rush-rushing_ under her feet. A row of paintings lined the wall of the corridor; abstract lights, spheres recognizable as sparks; solar systems, and spatial anomalies, all splashed with the vibrant colors reflected in the abode.

The second door on the right stood open, lit brighter than the rest of the apartment. She looked in, taking stock of the objects within. Half-finished paintings stacked against the wall, blank frames of unmade statues posed, ready to be finished. The fabric flooring had some sort of plastic covering, spattered with paints, and dyes, and what looked like dried clay. Where on Cybertron did they get clay?

A brilliant yellow mech knelt in the middle of it all, his finish dull in the apartment's lights. He didn't seem to notice her, his attention on the small figure before him. His nasal ridge hovered within a few inches of the piece, dark blue optics intent on his work, the tool in his hand scraping precise lines into the clay.

"Sunstreaker?"

The golden mech didn't lift his head, or give any indication that he heard her. She moved closer, repeating his name again, still to no effect. Her gaze went from the dirty mech to the clay figure he worked on.

A dancer posed on a toe joint, arms spread, leg stretched out in a classic pose. Sunstreaker's steady hands added the seams of the plating, giving the genderless form shape. She marveled at his rapt attention to his work.

Surely he couldn't ignore her when she stood this close? "Sunstreaker?"

Apparently he could, and she retreated back to the dispenser area, where Sideswipe mixed additives to three cubes.

"Couldn't get a response?" he said as soon as she stepped through the threshold.

"Not even a reset."

He paused, looking toward her suddenly. "You didn't touch anything, did you?"

She tilted her head. "No. I just looked at him working." She frowned as he sorted through label-less containers. "Is there a glitch in his auditory system?"

Sideswipe laughed as he squeezed a few drops of a grey substance into the energon, making it glow brighter. "Nah, he just shuts them off when he's working." He grinned impishly at her.

"He..." She flicked her doorwings. "You slagger, you knew this, too, didn't you? But you were calling out to-"  
She stopped as his fingers tapped his chestplate just over his spark. "Why you!" She stormed out of the dispenser area, systems heated as he chortled behind her.

She sat down on the black couch again, silently fuming over his prank.

A brightly glowing energon cube appeared next to her, held in a black hand "I'm sorry, I do that to everyone who visits. I have no excuse for it."

She glared at the cube for an astrosecond, but those pleading optics, and that engaging grin won out and she took the offered energon. "You're incorrigible, Sideswipe."

He sat down next to her, still ginning. "I know," he took a sip from his cube, "but you love me for it." He leaned over to kiss her cheek, but she shoved him away, still perturbed at his prank.

"You made a third cube?" she asked, noticing he set one on the low table before the couch. She realized too late that Sideswipe had mixed a potent high grade, and already she could feel it spreading through her systems.

"Of course, Sunny has to refuel sometime."

Prowl and Sideswipe sat there for a while, going through first one, than another cube of the red mech's special mix. Sideswipe had gotten up to make a third round for them, leaving Prowl relaxed on the couch, when Sunstreaker finally decided to make his appearance.

She noticed him, suddenly standing before her, reaching for the extra cube on the low table, not seeming to notice her sitting there. His seemingly brilliant frame, she now saw, had scratches and dings, paint and clay riddling the seams and finish. He had nearly drained the entire cube when his optics lit on her.

The cube lowered and he stared at her in confusion, a scowl marring the perfection of his face. "Who the frag are you, and what are you doing in my apartment?"

She lifted her chin, doorwings riding high on her shoulder. "I'm Prowl, Sideswipe invited me in."

"Prowl?" He frowned at nothing, as though trying to place her name. His optics focused on her again, and he stared at her quietly for a breem. Finally a smirk crossed his face. "He never brings home any mechs."

She tilted her head, puzzling out that phrase. "Femmes don't spark your circuits?"

He took another gulp of his high grade. "Didn't say that. He just never brings home any mechs." His gaze lifted to her shoulders and he stepped forward. "Do like the doorwings, though." His engine rumbled as he reached for the panels gracing her shoulders.

She twisted out of his grasp and he blinked down at her.

"Sunny," Sideswipe's admonishing tone made the golden mech lift his gaze to his brother. "She'll be staying with us a decacycle or two."

Sunstreaker arched his brow ridge and downed the rest of his energon. "Really? Don't I get an opinion on this?" His optics never left Prowl, and she shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny. "Stand up."

Sideswipe stood behind her, reaching past her to offer another cube to his brother. "Sunny, please..."

"I just want to see that she's pretty enough for you, bro. I'll not have anything unattractive in my apartment."

Her optics burned with chagrin and matched Sunstreaker's scowl with one of her own. "Really? You can't see that with me sitting down, is that it?"

Sideswipe's buzzed in irritation. "You never bring a femme home, and I don't do this to you."

Sunstreaker didn't move, an imposing figure in the midst of so many nice things, a Convoy in a lift too small. "You could be hiding scratches and dents like that. Stand up."

She glared at the brother of the mech she had been seeing for only a metacycle. She weighed her options, and they were few indeed, at least this night. It was too late in the solar cycle to impose on any of her friends, and she couldn't go home, the entire building was being renovated to pass an inspection. She could find a recharge shelter for the night, but she didn't favor shutting down around questionable mechs. She could rent a berth at the local inn, but finding a free room, or even a berth at this cycle? Reluctantly she stood, mouth set in as fierce a glower as she could manage. She had been told that it was quite intimidating, but the mech in front of her wasn't even looking at her face.

His gaze traveled over her frame, optics flickering lightly as he reached her hips and then her chest. He set his mouth in a lopsided smirk. "I approve, bro. And I don't need to bring femmes home, bro. You do that for me. You, however, wouldn't know a good-looking mech if they punched you in the face."

"Well, I'm glad you think I'm pretty," she growled from between her dental plates, fuming.

"Enough," the paint-scratched twin was quick to correct. "Doorwings certainly add to your appearance."

"Slagger," Sideswipe hissed. She looked back at the red mech, who stood with two energon cubes in hand, his head hanging. "Where's Tracks?" His bright optics as he handed her one of the cubes gave tell of his embarassment

"He's gone."

Sideswipe blinked. "He's not coming back?"

"The slagger could go interface with a maintenance drone for all I care." Sunstreaker downed half the contents of his cube. "I need to get back to work." He finished off the rest, optics glowing with the potency of the mixture. "See you later, Sides."

She frowned at the look Sunstreaker gave his twin, the look of someone who saw something beautiful, and knew what it felt like to touch that beautiful thing, and possess it. She hastily put the mostly full cube down, deciding that if she was seeing such things, she'd had enough.

"Done?"

"Your brother spoiled my appetite." She refused to look at the red mech as he gathered the cube.

Sideswipe pressed his lips together as he looked down at her. He seemed to come to a decision and finished off the contents of his own cube, disposing of it with a specific signal. He sat next to her, venting a sigh. "I can't tell you how sorry I am about that. I wish I could say that he's not always like that, but he is. I was hoping I could catch him before he came out here, though."

She glared at him. "I am tired, Sideswipe." She flicked her doorwings, looking away from him. "I'll look into other arrangements, for the next couple of decacycles."

He was silent for nearly a breem, his gaze never leaving her face, although she looked anywhere but at him. "Yeah, Prowl, okay. Let me set up the couch for you."

She stood, watching as he folded the couch down into a recharge berth. He moved over to her, touching her shoulder plate. "Can't we talk about this?" Pale optics pleaded with her.

She raised her doorwings, twitching her shoulder away from his fingers. "I just want to recharge right now, Sides."

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. Good night, Prowl."

"Good night, Sideswipe." She waited until he moved down the hall, only pausing by the control panel to dim the lights, before she lay down. She heard him puttering about one of the other rooms for a breem, his brother noticeable in his silence, before she succumbed to shut down.

* * *

She couldn't identify immediately what brought her online. She looked about in brief alarm at the unfamiliar surroundings before recalling herself. Then she heard it again.

A wordless cry, the buzz of someone in distress. The constant sound of metal striking metal.

She stood, following the muffled noises down the hall. She paused to look into Sunstreaker's work area, but the golden twin wasn't there. She reached the end of the hall, and the door situated there slid open automatically.

She stepped back, doorwings flaring at what lay beyond. She covered her mouth, pressing against the wall, unable to tear her horrified gaze away.

Two mechs lay tangled together on the berth, shadows flashing across their naked frames. Transformation plating lay in a neat pile at the foot of the berth: red and gold. Their dark, glowing optics and a lamp in the corner gave the only light.

But she didn't have to see them to know who they were. She didn't have to see, to know what they were doing.

Sunstreaker thrust at his brother's hips, mouth open; panting into the shadow of Sideswipe's cheek seam. He clutched at the white thigh, drawing the leg up, and along his side.

Sideswipe did not simply lay there, his hands roved his brother's naked arms, circling invisible seams, sliding up to caress the vents on Sunstreaker's face, hips returning his brother's thrusts.

One of them moaned, the sound purring out of a vocalizer surging with energy, so intent on their lovemaking they hadn't even noticed the door opening, or Prowl standing there.

Sideswipe turned his head, lips molding to the other's; opening to allow their glossae to twine.

Sound finally escaped Prowl's vocalizer: a squeak of disbelief, of horror.

Two pairs of optics glowed brightly at her in alarm.

Sideswipe's optics widened. "Prowl…"

She turned and fled.

"Prowl, wait!"

Something heavy landed on the floor and unplated feet chased after her, spurring her on faster.

The mech behind her was faster; hands seized her doorwings, yanking her back. She turned, expecting to see Sideswipe, but it was Sunstreaker's horned visage that glared down at her.

With barely a glance at his nude frame, she lashed out, fist slamming into his cheek seam, snapping his head back. "Let go of me!"

He released her with a cry, hands clapping to the indentation her fist had left on his face. A growl rumbled from his frame, but she didn't stay to apologize.

Not with Sideswipe coming up the hallway, clasping plates to his hips, face intense.

The same expression he had worn earlier in the evening when his brother had been looking at him like... oh, Primus! She took a step away, and then broke for the door. The door didn't open fast enough for her, 

and she shoved it open, hearing it squeal offtrack. She didn't care. As soon as it was wide enough for her to squeeze past with her doorwings angled back, she went through. She dashed down the hall, slamming the button for the lift to return, turning to watch Sideswipe step out of his apartment. He eyed the broken door, turning to frown at her.

She squeaked again as he approached. "Stay away from me, you, you..." Words failed her for a moment, and then the lift doors opened. "You freakish _machine!_" She zipped in, slapping the door controls to close the entry.

His footsteps quickened and she yelped as he smacked the door open again. She pressed herself against the back of the lift watching him approach.

"Prowl..."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it!" The lift shifted as it began to descend, leaving her in the lift with Sideswipe. "How could you? You just..." she ground her dental plates. "And with your brother!"

He lifted his hands placatingly, still approaching her. "It's not what it looks like."

"Oh really? You wanna try that again? Cause I think it was exactly how it looked!" She yanked away from the calming hand he lay on her arm. "Don't touch me with your disgusting hands! Augh! You _touched_ me with your hands, and your mouth, and your..." She slapped his hand away, scooting into the corner. "He's your brother! How could you do that with your twin!"

She realized her mistake when he caged her in with his arms. "Yes, he's my brother. And yes, he's my twin. Yes, we-"

"Your twin, Sideswipe! You can breach each other's firewalls, did you ever think of that? Oh, Primus, I think I'm going to purge."

The lift door chose that moment to open, and a security guard waited just outside. His purple optics widened as he took in Sideswipe's state. Sideswipe turned a glare on the larger mech, moving one of his hands to key the door close, and the lift back up.

He turned back to her, his optics dim, and expression pensive. He caged her in with his arms again. "Prowl, calm down. We're both mechs; breaching each other's firewalls is not something we have to worry about." He almost sounded amused at the idea

The lift moved, taking them back up to Sideswipe's floor. Prowl could almost sense her escape receding.

"Listen, I never meant for you to see that. I didn't think we'd jolt you online. I'm sorry."

"You've been saying that a lot today." Trapped, she crossed her arms over her chestplate, unable to look him in the face.

"Things haven't been going as planned," he admitted. He was silent for only a brief astrosecond. "I was hoping Tracks would be there for Sunny. He always comes away from his work with his hardware active, art's like lubricant for him."

"You should make him take care of his own needs," she muttered.

"What, like plugging himself into an outlet? That doesn't spark his circuits, he needs someone there to hold him and to kiss, and… well, other things. Usually it's whatever mech's currently keeping him company, like Tracks, " Sideswipe finally looked away, mumbling out of the side of his mouth, "I was _really_ 

hoping he'd be here tonight."

"Did it have to be you?"

He looked back at her, blinking rapidly. "Would you rather him jack into you?"

She twitched, turning her face away from him a little more. "Primus, no!" She jerked her head back up to glare at him. "But why you? That's what dolls are for!"

"Because I can't deny him anything. Because I'd rather it be me, than someone he cares nothing about," he looked almost sad as he whispered that.

The lift stopped and the doors open. "Unicron above, you _love_ him."

He nodded, shutters covering his optics. "He's my twin, my bro." He straightened, dropping his arms. "I want you to understand, Prowl. I love you, too." He leaned forward, as if to kiss her but he stopped when she flinched away.

"How many have you told that to, Sideswipe? Why should I be any different?"

Much to her relief he moved away. "Not as many as you might think, Prowl. I'm a merchant; I know the power of words. I don't use them lightly." He looked at the waiting doorway, and the damaged door beyond. "I can't make you stay, Prowl, but I'd really hate to see you go."

"I can't, Sideswipe. This is wrong on so many levels, and my logic programs can't take the strain..." she trailed off, noticing the other mech at the apartment door, optics glowing at them.

Quickly, she averted her gaze, too upset to say anymore, but found herself looking at Sideswipe instead.

He nodded, stepping away. "Alright." His fists clenched at his sides, and his vents stuttered. "Alright. See ya later, maybe?"

She looked away, optics. "Maybe."

The lift door hissed close on his broken posture, and she slid down to the floor, drawing her knees to the chest, tears leaking down her tear tracks. She sat there for a long time, until the lift moved down to the ground level of its own accord, and the doors opened to an empty hall, waiting for her to leave.


	2. Twin Ties Part 2

Ooh! Getting this up sooner than I thought I would. Many _many many_ thanks go out to Tiamat1972, without whom Sunstreaker wouldn't have turned out half as sexy as I wanted him too. (As a matter of fact, if it hadn't been for her, this would quite likely have been much more 'Throw Prowl down and have His way with her'.)

**Author's Notes I**: What's the first thing that crosses your mind when you think of Sunny?

Psychotic?  
Vain?  
Lusty?

Beautiful? Handsome? I'm certain these two words were in there as well, but they have probably been tempered by all the other descriptions of him.

Sunstreaker is supposed to be beautiful- no, not beautiful, _Gorgeous._ ('pretty' and 'attractive' simply do not apply to him) There's more to beauty than simple looks, however. There's attitude, and I don't mean vanity. There's actions, and I don't mean simply sex. Sunstreaker should be _sensual._

He is often shown in any combinations violent/psychotic, vain, and lusty, but he's not shown using the power of his looks to _seduce_. Sunstreaker's _Gorgeous_ and he knows it. And he knows how to use it.

That is what I'm trying to do here. I leave it to you to decide whether or not I succeeded.

**Author's Notes II**: In this verse the lubricant from a femme's mouth is an aphrodisiac, and necessary for comfortable sex, as well as an indicator of how ready they are to receive the mech. Fondling of the femme's breasts activates the mixing of that special lubricant, although overexcitement, or other forms of overstimulation can also start the mixing.

* * *

She spent far too many breem, and those slowly grew into cycles, wandering the streets in the dark, stumbling over stim-junkies and other bits of trash lying around. The need for recharge pulled at her and she finally happened upon a recharge station. One look at her and they turned her out without even asking for credentials, stating that if she looked that well-polished, then she obviously didn't need their facility.

Her tear ducts stung with the hopelessness, and outright injustice of her situation and she curled up in her altmode in the local park. The wind shivered across her plating, chilling the thin metal and the fluids that ran through her systems. Unsavory persons prowled the park, bright optics turning to the lone Gingeroll shining in the light of the Twin Moons. She jumped at every shadow, engine revving to life only to fade as she drifted offline in an endless cycle that continued until the morning came.

She saw him as she moved through her daily routine the following solar cycle. She ignored his hopeful glances, too exhausted from lack of recharge to process how to act around him. She didn't even want to care; betrayed, hurt, disgusted. He interfaced, he had _sex,_ with his _brother,_ with his _twin._ He _loved_ his brother, more than just the brotherly love common in most families. The idea disgusted her, and that he tried to defend his actions, defend his touching _her _with those same hands… How dare he!

She interacted with Sideswipe no more than she had to, flinching away from his hands as he spoke to her supervisor. She could see the hurt in his face when she did this, but frankly she was too tired to care. As soon as work let her out, she headed straight for an inn and crashed there until her comm. chirped for her attention.

She groggily answered, not even lifting her head from the berth, but still aware of all the optics on her plating.

"Where are you, femme? The party's started, Sides is here, and you're nowhere to be found!"

"Party…?" She groped about her memory for that keyword, seeking through her calendar for the noted event. Then the words 'Sides is here' hit her and she moaned, rubbing her face.

"Prowl?"

"I'm sorry Sandstorm, but I had a really bad night. I'm recharging early. Can I catch everyone another time?"

Silence for a few astroseconds. "Sure you don't need someone to check up on you? You're at Sides' apartment, right?"

She clenched her jaw, too tired to be as angry as she thought she should be. "No. I'm fine. Have fun. Tell everyone I said 'hi.'"

She didn't feel right, even after what he'd done to her, about revealing his secret to their friends. She was no gossip, had never been one, and while he'd hurt her, it was between them.

She avoided him as much as possible for the next few solar cycles, renting a berth, or a room. The looks her friends gave her every time she turned them down for an evening out made her churn inside. But she knew that Sideswipe would be there, with them. She damned her obstinate sense of honor that prevented her from telling them why she refused to go out. They would assume Sideswipe would come along and wonder at his absence.

They would want to know if she had broken up with him, and _why _she had broken up with him.

It hurt too much to talk about, to think they would assume that. It hurt that he'd abandoned her so completely, and that she didn't even have the thin shelter of her friends to comfort her.

And all she heard from her processor was the same echo all the time '_He's interfacing with his twin, and that is so wrong, because they can breach each other's firewalls and feel each other in ways that are only meant for bondmates. Disgusting. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting!' _When she was able to return to her apartment, she'd have to get rid of the peripherals he'd left. Ones he'd probably used with his twin! The thought disrupted her power relays, churning her holding tanks.

She lay on her rented berth, tear tracks overflowing with liquid, unable to settle into the recharge for which she'd paid. She would have given anything to have a pair of arms wrap around her and a soothing voice to calm her fried circuits. Anyone's would do. Just so she wouldn't feel so utterly alone.

Unable to associate with her normal friends she found herself heading to the library, accessing the files of whatever sparked her interest at that moment. When she grew bored of that, she began sorting through the datapads. She couldn't shake the awful feeling of leaving Sideswipe so abruptly like that, but oftentimes her disgust screamed louder, and she wallowed in her firm belief that such a relationship couldn't be natural.

Yet the hurt and lost look she recalled on his face as the doors had closed between them still sent surges of grief through her circuits.

Anger quickly followed and she snapped about, suddenly determined to verify that she had the right of it. She accessed the remote directory, and made her way to the section of datapads dedicated to dry history and the minutes from senate meetings. She recalled from her studies that the topic of sibling relations had been heavily debated before the Firewall Institution Act had passed legislation.

She scanned the correlating datapads, reading the disaster that came from sister bonding to brother, and allowing their spark energies to merge.

'_We're both mechs, breaching each other's firewalls is not something we have to worry about.'_

Did that make it anymore right for them to treat each other as lovers? What about the boundaries of family and friends? She shuddered at the thought of taking any of her siblings as a lover, of allowing them access to her spark.

Her proximity alarms suddenly went off and she spun around, doorwings dipping down in an instinctive preparation to transform.

A golden mech leaned against the shelf nearby. Stylish vents framed his face, creating a vaguely familiar profile offset by the darkened optics and the smile pulling at his mouth. Blue optics glowed softly with interest at her, mouth curved in smile. His paint gleamed with recent care, no streaks or scratches marring his plating.

Primus, he was _beautiful._

And he was looking at _her._

"That must be an interesting read," his voice matched his appearance, smooth and silky as a waxed finish. He tilted his head, the top of one of his vent horns tapping the shelf he leaned against it, his smile taking on an amused tilt.

Her processor fritzed at her effort to place his familiar visage, intent instead on how he seemed poised to touch her, and the form of his words on his lips. "It's nothing," she chuckled, her engine fluttering with inexplicable nervousness in the face of his regard. "It's just a little dry history."

"Oh," he purred, and he took a step closer, "I wasn't talking about what's on the datapad."

Her optics widened, but she didn't move away. She couldn't move away. Her servomotors refused to respond, locked by his approach. "What else would I be reading? There's no signs up that I can see, and you don't have any writing on you."

His optics flashed and he smiled that dazzling smile of his again, encroaching on her one step more. "There doesn't have to be writing in order for you to read something." He casually placed one hand on the shelf next to her, leaning his weight against the structure, and placing one hand on his hip strut. He looked like he was putting himself on display for her, turning his body so that the lights within the library reflected off his paneling.

And such a display!

She stared, doorwings rising, forgetting that he'd spoken. Optics riveted on that perfect golden canopy and the plas-glass that overlapped it.

He leaned closer, dental plates showing in a familiar grin. "Like I said, must be an interesting read."

She jumped, looking at him in embarrassment when she realized that she'd been staring at his shining chest. She tucked the datapad back into its slot, gaze everywhere but on that golden mech. "I'm sorry. Am I standing in your way?" What could such a beautiful mech possibly want in this section?

He shook his head, optics bright, and he leaned a little closer to her. "No, you're not. I've found what I was looking for."

Her doorwings shot up and she finally met his optics. "What?" The cerulean glass swirled with the change of his focus, watching her with an intensity that penetrated to her endoskeleton.

He finally pulled away, the smile never leaving his face. "I have to repeat myself all the time with you, don't I? I said, I found what I was looking for."

"Me?"

"Yes," the amused rumble in his voice sent surges through her circuits, "you."

This caused her to finally take a step back, ventilator hitching, and he advanced that one step. "Why would you want me?"

"Why would someone not want you?" he countered.

She retreated again when his hand came up to touch her shoulder plate. The nearness of his fingers burned through her circuitry and she hitched another intake. "I already have someone."

His brow ridge lifted, though it wasn't surprise that touched his face. "Do you?" He pressed forward one more step, and she backed up two.

"Yes, I do," her vocalizer stuttered from his overwhelming presence. "Yes, I-I'm not looking." She moved away again, and suddenly the shelf wasn't there anymore. Still he approached, giving her a sense of déjà vu to that night cycle at Sideswipe's.

"I don't think you do." He swung around her, blocking her from backing into the next aisle with his arm.

She found herself pinned to the end of the shelf, trapped by his golden hands. Her doorwings twitched as they brushed the molded backs, the thick wrist guards. "Wh-What do you know? You don't know me."

He tilted his head, looking her over from head to foot. "I know you, Prowl." He leaned closer, face inexorably near her own.

She slid down, unable to tear her gaze away from his handsome face, from the lips that loomed ever closer. He knew her name? How did he know her name?

He followed her, that grin back in place. He paused by her cheek seam, brushing his nasal ridge against her tear track, seeming to take a deep inhalation of her smell. She whimpered at the soft touch, at the heat that seemed to build in her circuits reaching down to her receptive port. His engine rumbled, and his optics darkened further. "Do like your doorwings, after all."

"Th-thank you." Why did that phrase sound so familiar? It wasn't so uncommon, clients complimented her on her doorwings all the time. But the wording wasn't right.

And Primus, she found it hard to concentrate with him pressing near to her, every sensor on her face seemed to ache with anticipation for touch of his lips.

One of his arms wound around her waist, pulling her away from the wall and against his chestplate. He seemed content to let her rest her head on the edge of his collar ridge, nuzzling against her audio receptor and stroking his other hand over her doorwing. He felt good pressed against her, the long lines of his body sliding against her frame.

She shouldn't be allowing this. That thought made her bring her hands up to his shoulders, lifting her head from his chest to look at him, intending to push him away. She didn't even know his name. Yet she couldn't help but to appreciate the firm feel of his plating beneath her fingers.

He captured her panting, eager lips in a kiss, demanding and sensuous, one of his hands caressing her jaw hinge as the other moved across her bumper. He pushed her back against the shelf structure, his mouth moving from her lips to her neck, dental plates nipping gently as he moved down her neck and then back up to her lips.

She shivered at the delightful sensations eddying he sent spiraling through her systems, hands still poised to push him away. She found herself kissing him back, doorwings sweeping back to allow him to probe at the hinges. The tips quivered as he instead took her head in his hands to stop her from pressing forward, to give him more control.

He moved in just a little more. His stance widened, allowing her to shape her frame against his. The feel of his solid form pressed against her chestplate, rubbing against her thighs had her gasping. His glossa slid along her lips, stroking along her own and drawing whimpers from her vocalizer.

Her vision flickered, and her port ached with excitement and moisture coated her mouth.

His fingers tightened on her helmet, and he abruptly pulled away, head snapping back as his intakes worked in excited jolts. He released her, stepping back, and looking at her with optics so dark, they seemed offline.

She staggered without him there to support her suddenly weak knees.

Then he wasn't there, and she turned, surprised to see him walking away without another word.

"What-" she asked, unable to voice louder than a whisper for a moment. "What the slag was that?" she yelled after him.

He didn't stop or turn, simply continuing his steady pace.

Anger spiked through her, and she shook off the surges of his touch and chased after him.

He quickened his steps, guiding her through the library at nearly a run. His long stride slowed as he left the library, and she ground her dental plates as she realized that he was leading her on. Yet her frustration at his arrogant disregard for what he'd done to her (even if she hadn't exactly fought him), spurred her to continue after him out of the library. Her systems rushed with anger, optics burning with embarrassment that turned into restrained fury.

She came out just as he transformed and swept into traffic, but his golden form stood out in the midst of more sensor friendly colors. She slammed into her altmode, cutting into traffic with a blaring of her alarm. Her engine roared as she advanced on him. The Fineline wove through traffic, literally leading her on as the fast vehicle seemed to take his sweet time for someone trying to get away.

'_The slagger. That slagger! that stupid slagging factory-built spawn!'_

He refused to acknowledge her on any channels, even the general public frequencies, as she hailed the only Line model on the road. His taunting in-lane weaving only had her emotional relays sparking past her logic centers and shorting them out. She wasn't thinking clearly, anger blinding her to all but the Fineline at the center of her targeting systems.

He pulled over in front of a building, transforming and walking up the ramp that led to its entrance. She pulled alongside the curb a little farther back and transformed, skipping onto the curb quickly as another bot pulled up behind her. She didn't slow from that small hop, feet stomping out an angry rhythm as she followed him. The stranger's leisurely stroll burned her as he continued to mock her efforts at catching him. She measured her pace out, doorwings flared in anger and drawing the gaze of curious passersby.

She didn't care.

That fragger thought he could use her like some mindless drone, like some _doll_ and walk away as if it'd never happen. Not with Prowl, he couldn't. Not without hearing a few words from her vocalizer. Maybe her fist in his face.

She entered the building, the door unlocked. Her steps echoed ponderously in the empty hallway. She hesitated, anger quelling in a moment of confusion. A desk stood to her right; a place for the receptionist to greet visitors and direct them to their destinations. She looked left, and saw a shadow crossing the intersection at the end.

Her systems surged again and she ran.

Her doorwings angled back to reduce the drag across her frame as she pelted around the corner, dental plates clenched against the force of her steps.

There he was.

Still strolling in that lazy arrogant manner. He turned into a room, and she quickly followed.

The mystery mech turned suddenly, grabbing her and shoving her into the wall. Angry words and objections died in her vocalizer when he pressed those glorious lips to her neck, his hands digging at her clasps.

Her ventilators chugged on, surprised by the sudden attack, her hands rested on the mag plates set in his shoulder. All thought processes seemed to freeze, interrupted by the press of his fingers under her plating, and the sweep of his glossa across her dermaplating.

"Is this what you want?" his voice rumbled through her shoulders, making her shiver. He drew her closer, wrapping one arm over her doorwings, behind her shoulders.

Words finally broke from her vocalizer, rambling free in a bid to hear him again. "Are you broadcasting attraction waves or something? I don't even know- mmph!"

He covered her protest with his mouth. Her doorwings twitched up, and she couldn't help but to open her lips to give him access, twining her glossa with his. His hand held her head sedentary, but she still had her hands free. Her friends would tell her that she was a fool if she turned down such a handsome mech, and after- She cut herself from that thought.

She wanted this. She needed this.

Her fingers stroked the smooth finish of his chestplate, the feel of him as pleasant beneath her fingertips as his appearance was to her optics.

Air whuffed out of the vents on his head, and a smile curled her lips as she sought to bring more of a reaction from his systems. She danced her fingers around his torso, digging into seams that brought pleased groans from his vocalizer and vents. It wasn't the reaction she wanted.

He shifted, trying to pin her arms in place, as though he didn't want her to continue her attentions.

Her doorwings dipped down in stubborn refusal to simply receive his attentions quietly. She slid her hands free and caressed them up his neck, feeling the power thrumming through the lines on his neck. He paused, lips brushing against her jaw, optics wide in anticipation, watching her. She stroked up his horns, caressing the gilded edges. Her thumbs bumped their way up the ridges of his vents.

His head rolled back, optics flickering, releasing her mouth for only a moment to nip at her wrist. His optics darkened with excitement from her touch.

Primus, she had him reacting to _her _touch, and it made her ache for him even more. She did it again, delighting in the shiver that went through his frame.

"Frag, that-uhn!" Air hissed from between his dental plates as his vent ridges received another stimulating caress.

Wrapping his other arm around her back, he lifted her with an ease that shouldn't have surprised her. Such a beautiful frame was bound to have strength behind it. He set her on the sole couch in the room (some part of her processor that was still thinking clearly noticed all the paintings and sculptures that took up a good majority of the space), bending one of her doorwings at an awkward angle. It was the farthest thing from her mind as he ravished her mouth, his hands stroking over her plating, teasing over the clasps.

Her hands pushed at him in protest, and yet they stroked the smooth finish of his chest plate, the well-cared for cells of his magnetic plates. She rubbed her thighs against his waist, finding new spots to make him shiver and grunt; moaned as he worked a few of the clasps to her chest plate loose. His fingertips reached into the gap and caressed one of her breasts, brushing against the sensor node.

The sensation of his hand on her breast surged through her circuits, and lubricant coated her mouth, a gentle, stimulating burn that she want to wipe all over his chassis. She wanted him to take her, and she didn't care if he wasn't gentle about it. She pressed forward, sweeping her glossa into his mouth, panting with need.

He jerked away again, holding his head high, gasping air to cool his heated systems. His glossa flicked out, licking up the trace amounts of the lubricant left on his lips. He shuttered his optics, and a moan shook his frame, rumbling from his engine to his vocalizer. "Oh, Primus, I-" His optics opened and they burned indigo, intense, and direct, his gaze locked on her. Smooth and graceful he ducked his head back down, turning his attentions on her neck again.

She pushed lightly at his shoulders, unbidden thoughts of Sideswipe doing the exact same thing to her flashing through her processor. "Wait, I said I have someone." But Sideswipe was an unwelcome consideration while this glorious mech had his hands on her, his glossa caressing the lines of her neck. She wanted him to never stop what he was doing.

His voice again rumbled through her frame, his hands busy with the clasps holding her chestplate in place. "Not when you've been- ah! -ignoring him for the past few solar cycles-Hnnnn..." His motions turned a little rougher, his dental plates denting the smooth metal of her neck, his hands tugging a little harder at the clasps.

Had he followed her from work? Did she have a stalker and _not even know it_. She was certain she would have noticed such a beautiful mech in the office, even if he was talking at one of the other desks.

She didn't want to think of it. She didn't want to think of Sideswipe, not when it inevitably led to thoughts of what she'd seen. "Shut up, you wouldn't understand." She took hold of his vents, pulling his head up so she could kiss him, so she could rub her fingers over them and make him tremble. Make him want her.

Replace the image in her processor with one so much more pleasant.

"Oh really, I wouldn't?" he murmured against her lips, chuckling. Even with her grip on his audio horns, he resisted the pull to her mouth, though she brushed her lips lightly against his. He stared down at her for a long moment, hands unmoving on her frame, and the expression on his face restrained, as though he wasn't certain he wanted to go through with this.

She didn't want him to stop, she didn't want him to hesitate. Unable to get the words out of her mouth, she ran her hands over his vents, fingering the tips of his horns, and he stopped resisting her. Instead he pressed her down into the couch, tugging at her chestplate until he had a hand completely under it, gripping one of her breasts.

He groaned into her mouth, grinding his hips against her groin covering. Her chestplate suddenly clanged to the floor. He kissed his way down her neck, his hands kneading her breasts. "Forgetting about him so easily?" He mumbled into her collar ridge. His glossa flicked out, tracing the exposed line.

Shouldn't she forget about him after what he'd done. She dug her fingertips into a joint, bending the soft metal and making him hiss. "I don't want to think about it. You wouldn't understand." Already she felt her mood spoiling, and she finally tried to place his familiarity.

He pulled away, glared down at her, scowl darkening his face in familiar ire. "Frag makes you think I wouldn't?"

Her optics widened as his appearance, his mannerisms all suddenly clicked into place alongside that of a scratched and dented artist. "_You? _Get _off_-"

"_Sunny_?"

Both of their optics jerked to the door.

Sideswipe stood there, his eyes wide and mouth slack in shock.


	3. Twin Ties Part 3

Sideswipe's blazing optics flicked from Sunstreaker to Prowl and back again as though he wasn't sure with whom he should the angriest.

She kicked Sunstreaker away, her circuits crawling with the suddenly loathsome feel of his hands on her, the memory of those hands on Sideswipe. She staggered to her feet, only to smack into Sideswipe. He brushed past her, but his passing glare spoke volumes of the words he didn't say.

He walked straight up to his brother and slugged the beautiful mech across the face. "What the _frag_ do you think you're doing to my femme?"

Prowl's doorwings twitched, calculating the distance between her chestplate and Sideswipe's foot. "_Your_ femme, Sideswipe?" she spat as she reached as quick as she could, snatching the edge of her chestplate.

Sideswipe swept about, blocking her from her plating. They glared at each other for only a brief astrosecond.

Then Sunstreaker pounced, enraged. Sideswipe stumbled forward, knocking Prowl to her knees. She grabbed up the chestplate, and scrambled to her feet. She swiftly got out of the way of the two mechs tussling around on the ground. She dodged away from a flailing leg, and ran for the door, her plating clutched to her chest.

"Sunny, you fragger! Get off me!" Sideswipe's snarl preceded the loud bang of metal striking metal with all the force it was capable of producing. She heard the sound of something crashing to the floor and the pounding of heavy feet.

"Prowl! Wait!"

Panic welled up in her circuits and she dodged around the first corner she came to. Sideswipe clattered around the corner, slamming into the wall as he swung too wide. She dodged around another corner, and another, until she didn't know which way would head her out of this building. The chatter of several voices echoed up the hall, and she squeaked at her unpresentable condition. She turned and ran back into one of the prior corridors, only to run smack into a red chestplate.

Black hands seized her arms and the voices grew louder. "Stop running away from me, Prowl. What the slag were--" he stopped as a small group of mechs and femmes turned the corner.

They froze, eying the couple in the corridor. Bright optics inevitably turned to Prowl's bared chest, and she clutched her plating closer, seeking to slide behind Sideswipe's broader frame. The red mech held her with an arm around her shoulders, and a quelling glare.

The lead femme looked from Prowl to Sideswipe, mild curiosity lighting her optics. "Sunstreaker getting into a fight with one of his models again?"

Sideswipe patted Prowl's mag plate, wry grin lighting his face. "Ah, you know Sunny. He could chase a maintenance drone away." He tugged Prowl closer, grinning down at her stunned optics.

The femme hummed in mild interest, turning to the group she led. "As you can see, we are quite accustomed to the results of artists' temperaments. Now if you'll follow me..."

Sideswipe didn't relax his grip on Prowl's arm until the group moved out of hearing range.

Prowl immediately slid out of his loosened grasp, glaring at him. "How dare you-"

Sideswipe cut her off with a sharp gesture and an even sharper tone. "How dare _you_!" His dental plates ground together with a squeal. "You won't even say 'hi' to me but you're all over my brother. I thought we _disgusted_ you, Prowl."

Her vocalizer buzzed in embarrassment as she jabbed a finger down the hallway she had come. "You 

fragging do! _That_ was not the mech who insulted me a few nights ago. How was I supposed to recognize him?"

Sideswipe's engine snarled, belts and fans squealing unpleasantly. "How could you _not_ recognize him. How many fragging gold mechs do you know?"

"He… He was so different though." Her doorwings dipped down as her logic programming finally began to boot back up and reassert itself. It brought up an analysis of the differences between the way Sunstreaker acted at the apartment, and his seduction of her at the library. There was no correlation between the two mechs. It had no problem matching up their appearances, diagnostics flashed over her memory of his face, bringing up charts that compared the characteristics of both mechs.

Sideswipe glared at her, apparently unsatisfied with her answer. "And that makes it okay to go around and mess with other mechs?"

She pulled herself from her algorithms to jerk away from the red mech. "Why does that matter? What the slag makes you think it's your problem?"

He grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "Because you're still mine-"

Her fist lashed across his face, white knuckles denting perfect cheek seams. "How dare you! How dare you think that after what I saw, after what you did!"

He fingered the print left on his face, optics flashing, but when he touched her again, his grip was much gentler. Still she pulled away pressing against the wall, seeing all too clearly those same hands on his brother. "I'm not a monster, slaggit, Prowl. You don't have to act like I'm about to chew your circuits."

"Don't touch me!"

His optics narrowed, but he pulled his fingers away, although they still hovered close. "I told you, I'm not a slagging monster, don't act like I am! I just want you to give me a chance; I just want you to listen." He didn't touch her, but he still trapped her with his frame, leaning his forehead against the wall, hands braced beneath her doorwings.

She flattened herself against the wall, turning her face away from his. She trembled at his proximity, waiting for his arms to encircle her; for him to give her another reason to strike. "What did I ever see in you? You slagging jack into one another, and you never told me this! Is that why you didn't invite me over, sooner? So I wouldn't find out? What about the trust, we're sup-"

He laughed, at himself, at her, she wasn't sure. The self-deprecating sound blew over her audio receptors; he'd turned his head to face her. "This is exactly why I didn't bring you over before. I knew you wouldn't be able to take it!" His hands finally moved, completing the circuit around her waist, drawing her toward him again. "I normally bring femmes home for only a recharge cycle or two. I..." his optics hummed with a power surge: amusement. "I don't think he realized you were _that_ Prowl."

Her fuel pump raced in her chest, and she trembled in his grip. "So, what, if he'd known you would have simply kept the secret longer? He's your slagging brother, how could you-"

"He's my _twin,_" Sideswipe was quick to correct, relaxing his hold on her waist. He pulled his head away from the wall, looking down at her with softly glowing optics. "How could I not?"

Her own optics burned with indignation. "What the slag are you talking about?"

He reached up to caress her cheek, wiping away tears she hadn't even realized were there. "Is it wrong for a bonded pair to interface like that?"

She jerked back, doorwings smacking painfully into the wall. "Are you trying to-"

"Just answer the question, please."

She glared up at him, turning her face away from his hand. "No."

His other hand came up, caressing her other cheek, forcing her to look at him. "We would have waited, until you understood what we meant to each other."

"And you think this would have made it okay? That I would have been fine with my lover having sex with his brother." She tried to pull his hands away from her face, but the mech proved stronger.

His face loomed closer, optics on hers. His lips brushed hers and she shuddered in revulsion. "It's not wrong for a bonded pair to interface, but it is for us? How is that right? We're bonded, but we can't have sex?"

She strained against his hands, dental plates gritted. "It's not the same."

"I love him, Prowl." He slid a hand down her chassis, fingers brushing gently, soothingly against her exposed breast, and wrapped his arm around her waist. "How is that not the same?"

"It's not the same, you're his brother! You shouldn't love each other like that." Her circuits crawled with his touch, but the look on his face- lost and frightened, crawled through her spark.

"How many siblings are tied to each other like we are?" His voice rumbled in her audio receiver, so like that strange golden Sunstreaker had earlier; a fact logged in her profiling program. She closed her optics, unable to help the memory of his voice rumbling in her audio like this while he told her a humorous story, or teased her in his charming way. "How many know what it's like to share a shell, and to feel their pain, or elation, no matter how far apart they are?" He tightened his grip on her, and she lifted her shutters. "Tell me it's wrong, Prowl. Your logic center should understand. Don't let what others believe dictate your life. See with your own optics."

She stared straight ahead, not returning his desperate embrace. "I can't Sideswipe. I-I need to think, I can't think with your arms around me."

He pulled away, releasing her completely and stepping away. He regarded her quietly for a moment, before he reached out and took her hand. "Let's get you a little cleaned up, at least, and let you get your plating back on. Come on, Sunny has a store of midgrade in his studio."

"His studio?" Her voice trailed off, still dazed from all that had happened so quickly.

Sideswipe chuckled, leading her through the hallways. "Yeah, how else do you think he got in after hours. He comes here when he needs space, or privacy. Or when he's using a stranger as a model."

They entered the large room, and the red mech set her on the sole couch, hands everywhere, but still considerate, even as he helped her put her chestplate back on.

Prowl moved obediently to his commands, processor running at tetrabytes per astrosecond. She jumped when he lay her horizontally, but his murmured reassurances and then immediate absence put her at ease. She lay there throughout the recharge cycle, staring at the lights burning brightly above; aware of the sharp scrapes of a brush against a canvas.

When she heard them, sometime after the lights had darkened, even muted as they made themselves, she shut off her audio receptors. Still her CPU whirled with all Sideswipe had told her, comparing it against everything she knew, or thought she knew, and everything she believed.

She stared at nothing, peripherally aware of the vague shadows that occasionally circled her, lit only by pairs of blue lights. She stared, until her optics slid close and she fell into a restless recharge.

* * *

Prowl woke with a start, the almost common novelty of coming online somewhere strange having yet to wear off. Sideswipe lay on a travel recharge plate on the floor, sprawled across it with all the fervor of the blissfully recharging.

She sat up and stared at him, tracing the angles of his plating with her optics. His face lay in relaxed, peaceful lines, so unlike his normal intense or grinning expression. She trailed the fine lines of the canopy on his back, following it down to the aft that she knew so well. Her new knowledge of him hadn't changed his appearance any, or even her perception of it (though she had no doubt that was largely due to her rather lateral programming), he was still a fine-looking mech.

She stood, unable to continue sitting there without being tempted to reach out and touch him. She didn't want to wake him. She still wasn't ready to face him yet. She had nowhere to go, and still two cycles before she would be needed at her work.

Sunstreaker was nowhere to be seen, but she could hear the incessant scrape of brush against canvas. If he was working, then surely his audio receptors were off, leaving him in his world void of sound.

She quietly wandered around the room, admiring the paintings and sculptures-metal and rock and clay. Hidden away in the back of the studio, separated by a partition, sat a well-worn berth. Her optics dimmed as she saw the red and yellow streaks on it, fresh but mixed within a rainbow of other colors.

But then her eyes were drawn up and she stared at the painting above the berth.

Sideswipe smirked at the painter, an intensity in his optics that she had never seen before. A burning come hither that seemed to sear right into her optics and engrave onto her spark. His fist propped his chin up, in turn his thigh propped his elbow, his foot resting on the boundary of color that was the background. He splayed his legs, displaying himself to the world, if it wasn't for the chestplate held over his groin. The loving touches of shadow and light, the thin lines along his joints, demonstrated just how well the painter knew that frame. Even with the dash of color on the background, there was nothing to see but the red twin: the focal point of the painter's attention, the object of his desire.

She stared. Sideswipe's naked form was no curiosity to her, it was a territory that she had explored on numerous occasions. But never with such loving attention. The Sideswipe in the painting should start laughing, the smirk morph into the lovable grin she knew him for.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you about going where you're not invited? Primus, this is what caused this whole slagging situation."

Prowl snapped her jaw close, spinal relay tightening as she spun about.

Sunstreaker glowered at her, his gaze slowly flicking to the painting. Instead of the proud smile she expected of him, his expression turned fierce. He had the look of a zealot whose sacred altar had been tainted by the touch of the unfaithful.

She couldn't believe that he was hiding this masterpiece back here, and told him as much.

An offended look crossed his face, as though he couldn't believe she'd just said that. "Why the slag would I leave something like this out where everyone can see it? That's my inspiration, right there. Why the slag would I leave it out for it to be mocked by the likes of you?"

"Mocked?" Her doorwings tightened behind her, surprised that he would suggest such a thing. "How could I be mocking that? It's beautiful..."

The blue optics burned. "Beautiful?" He leaned toward her, dental plates bared in a snarl. His voice dropped to a hiss. "I thought we were disgusting."

She leaned away from him. "That's an entirely different thing!"

"Is it?" he snapped. "That's no different to me, Prowl." Despite his harsh words, his voice never rose above its normal range. "That is Sideswipe, as _I_ see him." His gaze flicked from her to the painting, and for the briefest of astroseconds the harsh light softened "That is the Sideswipe I want to touch, that I love so much." His optics narrowed and a growl rumbled out of his engine. "But you don't want to hear this, do you?" He took a step toward her, and she retreated a step to the side. "You wouldn't even listen to him, why the frag would you listen to me?"

He watched as she backed out of the alcove. "I'm not taking this from you. Not after that stunt you pulled yesterday.

He snarled. "Like you were objecting, then? You didn't seem to have any problem with it at the time. Primus, you slagging followed me here. You wanted it! You slagging little-"

He never finished his sentence as her fist landed square in his mouth. "That's what I followed you here for! You're the one who grabbed me. I didn't recognize you! You're the one who was all over the femme that your brother supposedly loves. The one that he lied to."

"What the slag is going on?" Sideswipes' static-filled voice drew their attention. "Sunny? Prowl? What are you doing over there?"

Prowl turned to face the red twin as he stood and approached them. "Your brother is being an aft again, Sideswipe."

Sideswipe narrowed his optics at Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker jumped as though struck. "It's not my fault that your femme is too stupid to know when to stay out of other's business-"

"_What?_"

"She's the one snooping around other people's homes-"

"Shut it, Sunny." Sideswipe stood next to her, hand light on her shoulder as he drew her away. It was then that she noticed the small trace of yellow on his jaw hinge, almost hidden within the slight curves of a healing finger imprint.

She jerked away from Sideswipe, optics locked on that small scrape. "You were with him last night?" The soft sounds of two mechs gasping with passion and need flitted across her memory. Her optics widened, and she clapped her hands to her audio receivers as if that could prevent her from remembering the sounds. "Oh, Primus, you were!"

Sideswipe grabbed her before she had a chance to run away. "Please wait. Let me talk. Let me explain." He flicked his fingers at Sunstreaker. "Just ignore him, all right. He's an aft and doesn't know when to cut his vocalizer off."

"And you can't keep your hands off him, can you?" she snapped.

He rubbed at his cheek guard, pulling at his audio horn. "This is _his_ studio, I told you…"

"I don't want to hear it. I need to head to work." She glared at Sideswipe's hand until the black fingers released her arm.

Sideswipe scowled. "Stubborn, little glitch," he growled. "I thought you were willing to listen, at least."

"I said I needed to think about it, and who are you calling a glitch-" She cut herself off from following that line of thought. She didn't want to alienate him completely.

Hands curled into angry fists squeaked by his side. "It doesn't usually take you this long to make a decision."

"I usually don't have everything I believe thrown in my face."

"How 'bout me? How 'bout what I believe? You're not even giving me the chance to explain…"

"Because I'm not ready to hear it!" With that she snapped around on her toe joint and stalked out of the studio.

She couldn't miss the crash of shattering clay, or the angry shout that followed her.

She ducked her head, doorwings dipping low, and simply quickened her steps.

* * *

Waverunner chimed for her attention over the comm. Prowl opened the requested channel, redirecting a portion of her processing power to acknowledge her coworker.

"_You have a visitor out here._"

More attention turned toward the conversation. "_A what?_" Who would come here to see her?

"_A visitor! Oh Primus, Prowl, is he available? I know he's not yours, you have Sideswipe."_

She still hadn't told any of her friends or colleagues of the currently halted relationship. Prowl narrowed her optics, halting the program she was running and shoving it to the back of her processor, locking the screen on her workstation. She disconnected herself from the console. "_Did he give his name?_"

It wouldn't be Sideswipe, he would just waltz in like he had business there (which normally he did). However, the way Waverunner was all but lubricating over the mech, made her suspect.

There was a brief pause before Waverunner responded. "_He just wants you to come out here for a moment._" Prowl detected the slight pout in the receptionist's tone.

Prowl shrugged her doorwings and headed for the reception area. The door opened before her, and she immediately saw, and recognized, her 'visitor.'

Sunstreaker leaned over the receptionist's desk, shamelessly flirting with Waverunner and Skywing.

Primus, what was up with him?

The light played over his once-again flawless paint job, golden hands flashing as he gestured with the point he was softly making to the two femmes.

His head turned when the door opened, and Prowl found herself once again captivated by the perfection of the mech. His optics flashed at her and a sultry smile graced his face.

She collected herself quickly as she saw the way her coworkers looked at him. "I thought femmes didn't spark your circuits, Sunstreaker."

He tilted his head, so that his brow dropped at a dangerous angle to her perception, never losing his sensuous smile. "I never said that, Prowl. I just don't need to bring them home." He turned his full smile on her once more.

She twitched her doorwings, maintaining her hold on her professional programming to resist his allure.

He turned back to the two femmes at the desk. "I seem to have thrown Prowl off-kilter, perhaps you can direct us to someplace more private?"

"Right here is fine, Sunstreaker. I have work I need to get back to."

He tilted his head in that deceivingly dangerous way again, not missing her veiled insult. "Fine." He didn't look at the two femmes again as he approached Prowl.

She stiffened, doorwings rising as she admired his smooth gait. She lifted her chin as his hands slid around her shoulders. "Well?"

"I'm sorry."

Something in her glitched. "What did you say?" She couldn't quite believe her audio sensors.

He didn't so much frown as he simply smoothed his face into an all too perfect straight line. "I should have been more courteous to you. I was wrong to treat you like a throw away doll." He leaned his head forward, pressing his forehead against her thin chevron. "I'm sorry."

Prowl's processor locked up, unable to excuse those words this time as being misheard. She was aware of the gentle squeeze of his fingers on her mag plates, the rush of air across her face. She looked up at him, meeting his soft optics.

"Who the frag are you, and what have you done with Sunstreaker?"

"I can be nice when I want to be," he whispered back, his voice husky with emotion. "I can be nice, for Sideswipe. I... didn't mean to go that far-" She halted him with a hand over his mouth.

"Let's go somewhere more private."

"_Prowl, we are _so_ jealous! What about Sideswipe?_"

Prowl glared at Waverunner before she pulled away from Sunstreaker and lead him to an unused office. She closed and locked the door, turning to face the golden mech.

He posed against the desk in the office, automatically angling himself to catch the light better.

Her fuel pump stuttered at the sight of him and she stopped just out of her arm's reach. She tried to pick up her train of thought, but he was entirely too distracting.

He stared up at the ceiling lost in his thoughts for a brief breem before he turned to her. "You really hurt Sideswipe, you know. I just want you to give him a chance, and listen to him. I know most people would react like you did to learning-"

She took another step forward and put her fingers over his lips. He stared down at them, and then frowned at her. Primus, this still wasn't the Sunstreaker from the apartment or the studio. She couldn't resist the urge to stroke his lips, trailing her fingers down to his shoulder and tugging him toward her.

He resisted.

Her doorwings flicked and she glanced toward a corner in the front of the office where she knew a camera was hidden. He followed her gaze and reluctantly gave in to her next tug. She leaned her thighs against the desk, pulling him closer. He braced his hands on the desk, avoiding her frame and her doorwings. He resisted again when she tried to draw his head closer.

"What's up with the sudden change? You were eager yesterday," she hissed at him.

"I'm not trying to get you to follow me today." But he pressed closer, nuzzling her cheek, his lips caressing her chin. "That's all I wanted you to do, follow me, and stay until Sideswipe returned." His arms slid around her waist, squeezing in a brief hug. "I didn't mean to get carried away. It was disrespectful to Sideswipe," he paused and his face slipped briefly into the Sunstreaker she saw only in private, "and you, too." He leaned his head against her chevron again. "I'm sorry."

Her doorwings drooped. "If you don't stop saying that, you're going to blow a fuse in my systems."

A smile, a real smile, crossed his face, (oh, Primus, could it be any lovelier than the one he wore when she first saw him at the library) and he laughed. "Are you so sensitive?" His voice purred, and his hand trailed down her back, and he pressed her against the desk, nipping at her jaw hinge.

"Sunstreaker..." she moaned, pressing her hands to his chestplate. "You're doing it again."

"Really like your doorwings," he murmured back, trailing up to her lips. His hands slid up the bottom edges of her doorwings, fingers light along the gilding. The tips quivered under the sensory assault.

She swept her doorwings forward to keep Sunstreaker's fingers from exploring their hinges. "What you and Sideswipe do is wrong."

He lifted his head and looked her in the optics. "Is it, really? We're siblings, but more than that we're twins. We're a truly split spark, it happened after separation from our mother." His fingers tightened on her canopy. "Show me where they've ever discussed true twin relationships." He released her, venting and clenching his fists as he restrained himself. "I just want you to give Sideswipe another chance. I'll be in the studio until late this evening."

She watched as he walked out the office door, leaving her alone in the spare office; processor cycling his words.

* * *

Author's Notes: Next chapter's the last one. Hopefully this is being solved in a believable manner. Next chapter also gets the rating upped.


	4. Twin Ties Part 4

**Reiterating Warnings** Mechanical sticky (Transformers with genitalia) ahead. Lambosammich.

* * *

She stood before the first door on the right, doorwings stiff behind her. Her finger hovered over the chime, amazed she had gotten this far in without Sideswipe knowing she was there yet. The security guard who had caught them in the lift those few nights ago had instantly recognized her and allowed her in, pulling her aside to ask if there was anything he should know. He received her assurances that all was well with a disbelieving frown.

She wondered if he'd still be online, looking at the time displayed in her HUD. She had spent too long a time in the library, doing as Sunstreaker had asked, and looking for information on twins.

She shuttered her optics briefly and gathered her resolve.

The relationship of twins had never been brought up in council. Their situation never considered as there simply weren't enough twins sparked to warrant the concern. They couldn't even be considered a percentage of the population, there were that few of them.

Her white finger pressed the chime, and she picked up its pleasant sound from within the apartment.

The door slid open, and Sideswipe stared down at her in surprise, and no little aggravation. "What is it, this time, Prowl?"

She stiffened, doorwings lifting. "I thought you wanted to talk, Sideswipe."

He stared down at her before standing to one side. She ducked inside, noticing the recent repairs on the doorframe. The limthzi crystals still sparkled across the wall, and over her plating but the dancing lights didn't relieve the anger that radiated from Sideswipe. He glared down at her, metal squealing as he clenched his fists.

Her doorwings rose higher, and her optics flared as she prepared herself for his rejection.

"What makes me think you're actually going to listen? Without running away _again_?" He finally crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his chin down.

She flicked her doorwings, and reached toward him, stopping just before her fingertips touched his shining chestplate, only to drop her hand to her side. "I can't handle things being thrown at me from out of subspace, Sideswipe! You know how my logic circuits are. They can't take the strain."

He didn't relent his burning gaze, and her doorwings drooped under it.

"You know, Sunstreaker came into the office today."

His optics flashed and he stiffened. "Really." He acted as though this didn't surprise him, but she knew him well enough to see the tightening of his hands tucked under his arms, the jerk of his head; he hadn't expected it.

"Yes. He came to apologize."

That got a reaction.

"He did _what?_" Sideswipe's vocalizer glitched with surprise and his engine choked.

"He apologized." She laughed at the slack expression on his face. "I had to reset all my processors when I heard it as well." She tilted her head, looking at him from under her chevron. "I suppose this is unusual for him?"

"Sunny _never _apologizes, even I have a fragging hard time getting him to admit that he's done wrong."

She dimmed her optics as she considered this.It certainly fit into the profile she was slowly gathering on the arrogant, golden mech, and the distaste for what he'd had to do had been evident, Then again, hadn't she been just as arrogant, just as self-righteous? She thought that her initial reactions were perfectly acceptable considering the circumstances, but later? In the studio? She might have been overreacting. She really shouldn't have snapped at Sideswipe like that. After all it had been _Sunstreaker's_ words that had made her angry,

She looked up at him, and lifted her hand, laying her fingertips on his arm. "Sideswipe, I'm sorry about the way I acted. You told me about how Sunstreaker is after working, I should have known that he... would have 

approached you while I was there." She lowered her head. "I'm sorry about not considering that, and not listening to you." She looked up at him, lifting her chin and allowing a smile to twitch her lips. "I'm ready to listen now."

He stared down at her, arms slowly lowering to his sides. His optics flickered, and he motioned her further in. "Have a seat, Prowl."

She moved past him, her doorwing brushing against his hand. She detected his movement; his hand reaching out to touch the trailing edge, but it stopped and returned to his side. She sat down on the couch, angling herself so that her panels stuck out over the arm of the couch. It was far more comfortable than attempting to sit with her back to the couch, and having the doorwings pressed in.

He sat down at the opposite end of the couch, leaning toward her but keeping his distance. He looked at her, optics dim, and mouth set in a straight line. She watched as he weighed his words, and knew how carefully he was phrasing what he next said. "Sunstreaker is really important to me, Prowl. The law calls him my brother, but he's more than that. He's my twin." He rubbed nervous fingers up his cheekguard, not looking at her. "I can't imagine life without him. Everything I'm not he is, what he is, I'm not," he grinned at her, "I'm sure you've seen that."

A few astroseconds as her comparison programming worked and she nodded. While she could see their differences, she also made note of their similarities; the short tempers, the utter confidence in themselves, the eye for varying aspects of beauty.

"When we're together," he threaded his fingers together in an insinuating gesture, "everything seems balanced in our systems, in our sparks" His optics glanced down to the fingers she rapped her fingers against her legs and he grimaced as though he realized what he'd just said and he shifted uncomfortably, threaded fingers dropping to his lap. He looked at her, rubbing the fabric of the couch before bringing his hands back to his lap. "He's my twin, we've always been there for each other. I don't think we've had much of a normal sibling relationship since we were sparklings."

Her doorwings tapped the arm of the couch, and a sigh heaved from her vent. "If he means so much to you, then why are you even bothering with me? Why not just toss me to the side like all the other femmes," she flicked her doorwings again, crossing her arms over her blue chestplate as she glowered at him from under her chevron, "or run away again?"

His optics widened and he leaned forward, expression earnest, hands gesturing toward her without touching her frame. "I don't know how you know about that, but you are _nothing_ like that femme."

She lifted an optic ridge at his bewilderment. "I track and analyze business patterns for a career, Sideswipe. It wasn't all that hard for me to deduce the reasons behind an otherwise bad business move." His open business profile had allowed her to research his history. An unexpected decision to move away from a thriving trade and an abandoned gallery brought her to only one logical conclusion supported by rumors found on gossip boards. "So, why _didn't _you run away again?"

He pulled at his audio horns, dental plates audibly grinding as he searched the room for his answer. "How can I make you understand, Prowl?" He looked at her, again, optics bright in sudden inspiration, brow ridge furrowing as he spoke. "I love Sunny, I've loved him all my life. I was sparked loving Sunny, but you..." He leaned toward her, sliding forward so that his hip pressed her knees and his hands gripped the couch around her. "What I had--have with you is so different." His fingers touched her cheek seam. The edges of his optic softened, the light dim within them. "I never knew how empty my life had been before you came into it. I thought Sunny made me complete, but you fill holes I never knew were there." His face mere inches from her, she could see the minute workings of his optics as they studied her face. "I love you, Prowl. I can't promise you the whole of me, but will you take what I can give? Sunstreaker has been my focus for a very long time, but he can do without my attention when you need me."

She stared at him, tears unaccountably running down her cheeks. She couldn't speak for nearly a breem as she turned Sideswipe's words over, as she took in the desperate hope so clear on his face. "Sideswipe, that's the most hackneyed thing I've ever heard." She pressed her fingers to her lips, trying to contain her emotions. "You're still going to sleep with him?" She shuttered her optics, trying to stem the flow of tears from her valves

His optics dimmed and he pulled away a little. "Yes."

She pressed her lips together, looking away from him. She knew that he still shared his berth with other femmes as well (and apparently the mechs Sunstreaker brought home). She accepted that. Was this really that much different? "You should have warned me before we came to the apartment. You made a fool out of me." It would take some effort to delete that persistent voice that cried 'Yes, yes, it is wrong. They're brothers.' Who was she to judge that?

His arms slid around her, engine revving gently as he tipped her chin up with his forefinger. She shivered at his touch. "Can you really blame me for hiding it?"

She looked up at him, her nasal ridge brushing his, so close did he hold his face to hers. She leaned a little away, but only so that she could rest her hands on the mag plates on his shoulders. "No," clear in her mind was the utter devastation on his face as the elevator doors closed between them that night some solar cycles ago. "No," she said again, hands rubbing soothing circles on his shoulder plates, lips brushing his cheek, "I suppose not." She turned her head just enough so that their lips touched. He pressed forward gently, tenderly as though testing a new program, seeking a reaction. She cupped her hand around the back of his neck, sliding her other arm over his canopy.

It was like activating a magnet.

He latched onto her: lips, hands, frame. His weight pressed her into the couch, and his hands roved her plating, plucking at the clasps without releasing them. He drank from her lips eagerly, glossa sliding into her mouth to caress her own. Every touch and caress sent liquid fire rolling through her circuits, drawing plaintive whimpers and moans from her surging vocalizer.

She wasted no time in running her hands over his frame, fingers digging into the seams of his plating, and sweeping caresses over exposed circuits. Her doorwings bit into the couch, pressed up at an uncomfortable angle. She rolled her head back as his mouth moved down her neck, his groans and growls vibrating against her throat. He nipped and licked her neck and shoulder, his hands and mouth then moving on to her chestplate.

Her fingers wrapped around his audio horns, caressing the jointed pieces of metal, causing him to cry out at the feedback.

He rolled her slightly, so that he could unclasp the three latches just under her arms. His dental plates prized the clasps up, his glossa running over the small bits of metal errogenously.

She clutched at him, ventilator whirring to compensate for the desire heating her systems. She whispered his name as he worked his fingers around her chestplate, tugging and pulling at the clasps.

When the plating slid free of her frame, he pressed a kiss between her breasts. His lips slid over her breast with a sweet squeal of metal against metal. His glossa flicked out, running over the sensor node at the top of her breast.

She gasped, curling around his head as he sent another eddy of sensation over her node.

"Sideswipe..." she moaned, processor glitching with sensual excitement; moisture coating her mouth.

"Hm?" The hum vibrated through the node, and she burned with a desire to feel him between her legs. His fingers ghosted around the base of her breast, causing another shiver to rack her frame.

"Shouldn't we go to..." Her mouth suddenly became occupied with meeting his, his hungry kiss halting her thoughts.

His optics darkened programs activating in automatic reaction to her lubricant. He moaned against her lips, hips bucking against her in eager anticipation. He yanked away from her mouth, panting as he moved down her neck with nips and licks.

She caressed around his audio horns down to his cheekguard and tipped up his head to face her. "Shouldn't we go to your berth? I mean, what if Sunstreaker..."

He glanced at the door, before he nodded, standing. "Yeah," he said in a husky voice, "we should." He helped her to her feet and guided her down the hallway, hands caressing and teasing over her doorwings.

* * *

The feeling of eyes watching her brought her back online with a start. Sideswipe's bare frame warmed her back, his arm wrapped possessively around her naked waist. Her doorwing pillowed his head, the dead weight pressing into the sensitive panel.

But it was Sunstreaker standing over her that drew her attention. Apparently, being in Sideswipe's room wasn't deterrent enough, for she was certain they had shut and locked the door.

His blue optics glowed within the shadows of his face, the gold of his vents gleaming like a telling miasma. He stared down at her with a strange tilt to his mouth, his indigo optics sweeping over the two lovers on the berth. His golden plating fairly glowed with recent care, droplets of water still sparkling on his finish. As beautiful as the vision that had appeared before her in the library.

Unconsciously her hands came up to cover her naked chest, her knees tucking forward and pressing together.

He didn't seem concerned with her discomfort, his hand uncurling from where it crossed over his chest to reach for her doorwing.

She jerked back in surprise, doorwing flicking back and striking against Sideswipe's shoulder. She couldn't converse with Sunstreaker privately; she didn't have his transponder code. Any message conveyed over the public system would be heard by anyone receiving, and she didn't want to broadcast this situation to everyone.

"Sunstreaker, what are you doing?"

His hand pulled back to his chestplate, and he went back to his silent observation of her and Sideswipe.

"You two are beautiful together," he finally said after nearly two breem. He reached out again, this time taking hold of Prowl's doorwing and smoothing his hand along the top edge.

She arched her back into his sure touch, gasping as he pulled her closer. He bent down to kiss her cheek, his lips lingering on the curve of her seam. His hand flattened across the width of her panel, stroking the blue finish down toward the hinges.

He lifted his head away, gazing at her with the intensity he'd directed at Sideswipe that night she had run away. Her systems heated under his keen stare.

Sideswipe's arm tightened around her, and his other hand knocked away Sunstreaker's arm. "I'm right here, Sunny."

"I know. It's just..."

Sideswipe chuckled, pulling her back toward him and laying a kiss on the back of her neck. "She's beautiful, isn't she bro?"

Sunstreaker's engine rumbled in agreement as he reached toward his brother, his fingers squeaking out of Prowl's sight along Sideswipe's face. "Sideswipe didn't even take the time to remove all your plating?" He nodded his head toward her legs.

Sideswipe's finger twitched across her holding area and he chuckled. "It's her fault."

"Sunstreaker, what are you doing here?" She still covered her chest with one arm as she grabbed Sunstreaker's wandering fingers with her other hand. His touch made it harder for her to think, made it harder for her to resist. Did she really want to resist?

He smiled down at her, and her fans kicked on. "Admiring the cute couple in _my_ apartment. What does it look like?"

"Admire with your optics and not your hands."

Sunstreaker didn't deign his brother with a glance, his optics remained locked on her. He pulled his hand free of hers. "I'm an artist, Sideswipe; I like to feel a shape before I'm sure of its texture," his words purred out of his vocalizer, his lips shaping each sound precisely. His hand caressed over the curve of her hip, and down her thigh, sending shivers through her frame.

Her ventilators hummed to life as she stared up at the golden mech, aware of the harsh drone of a growling engine at her back. Prowl reached back, and shoved at Sideswipe to get him off her doorwing. She sat up, sliding to the foot of the berth and away from the two mechs glaring at each other.

"Just can't keep your hands off my femmes, can you Sunny?" Sideswipe pushed himself up, not relenting his glare, his anger sudden and enhanced by the snarl of his engine..

"Hey, I can't help it that they taste perfection and want more of it."

"_Perfection? _That same perfection that chases them away I suppose? You nearly cost me, Prowl. How about everything else we've had to give up because you're a slagger with no self control?"

Prowl covered her face with her hands, unable to believe they were doing this in front of her. Her doorwings dipped down and she dropped her hands to her lap, no longer caring about her immodest appearance in front of Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker's optics blazed and he stiffened, engine grinding angrily. He balled his fists, leaning back as though about to strike.

Prowl's doorwings shot up as she stood. "Would you both stop it!" It was not a request, it was a command; pulled from somewhere deep within her subroutines that she didn't even know existed. She looked first to Sideswipe, her brow ridge turning down. "Sideswipe, I love you, but you need to stop treating me like some... thing! I am an individual, with my own tastes and preferences, and I'd appreciate it if you would respect that I can keep off any _unwanted_ advances on my own without your help." She looked at the golden mech. "And you-" Her doorwings flicked as his glare turned on her, "I hate to tell you this, but the world does _not_ revolve around you. Now," she lifted her chin, sensors burning with the attention they turned on her, "are you two done comparing the number of your peripherals, or do I need to get nasty?"

They stared at her in stunned silence for a moment.

"_You_ can keep off any advances?" Sideswipe's vocalizer glitched in some unidentifiable emotion. "You sure were doing a great job just now! I could hear you responding to him now, and before--"

"And you don't, Sideswipe? I don't want to hear it from you," she snapped back.

Sunstreaker glanced at the naked mech on the berth, fit of temper suddenly cooled. "Sparky little thing, isn't she?"

"Sunstreaker, every time you activate your vocalizer you say something either extremely flattering, or stupid." Her optics narrowed at the golden mech. "Right now you're gravitating toward stupid. Would you kindly shut off your vocalizer, or mind what you say."

Sunstreaker's jaw snapped shut, and he regarded her with bright optics, still colored the shade of arousal.

She glared at the both of them, back straight, and doorwings flared behind her. "I think we could all use a coolant break. Sunstreaker, would you mind?"

Sunstreaker's optics flickered and he glanced at Sideswipe before he turned and marched out of the room, leaving Sideswipe and Prowl alone again.

A sigh vented from Prowl's systems and she sat down on the edge of the berth, burying her face in her hands. "I don't know what came over me," she said when Sideswipe touched her shoulder.

He pulled her against him, leaning his cheekguard against her chevron. "I don't either, Prowl, but Primus, did it turn my engine." He revved his engine emphatically..

She shoved at him playfully, doorwings sweeping forward in sudden amusement. "Sideswipe you are utterly incorrigible."

"I can't help it if you're so damned sexy." He kissed her, short and tender before she gently pushed him away.

"_You share the berth with him; share him with other femmes you bring home, but not me. Is it really so bad?"_

He blinked in surprise, before he glanced out the door and his expression darkened. "_You're mine, not his. I don't like anyone else's hands on you_."

She pressed her lips together, regarding him with dim optics. "_So_," she hesitated uncertain how to broach the subject, "_it's okay then, that you are sleeping with him, and with other femmes. But me? Oh, I'm not allowed to even react to sharp angles or pleasing words._" Her doorwings dipped down as she looked at him from under her chevron, scowling.

He frowned at her. "_You want him?_"

"_The thought has crossed my mind!_"

He slapped a hand to his helm, voicing aloud rather than over the comm channels. "Primus this is great, he's got you, too."

Prowl's face smoothed of any anger. She took his hand and pulled it away from his head. He turned away from her when she moved in to kiss him. "Sideswipe," she went with him, forcing him to look at her. She switched back to her internal comm. "_No matter how skilled your brother is, it's not his berth that I'll be returning to. I don't think I could stand him on a regular basis."_

He turned a glare on her, still refusing to meet her lips. "So what? You going to kick me off my berth so you can interface with my brother?" His fingers clawed into the rubber mat that covered the berth. "Or are you going to make me lay here while I know he's jacking into you? Are you going to-" His arms suddenly wrapped around her, and he clutched her to his chest, squeezing her desperately. _"Can't I have one thing that I don't have to share with him? He has his art; even I can't compete with it all the time. Can't I have you to myself?_"

She shoved him away, optics burning in anger. "I'm _not_ some object you can possess, Sideswipe. How many times am I going to have to say that?" Her doorwings twitched and she sat back down next to him, and smoothed her hand along his bare thigh. "I give you the freedom to have sex with others as you please. Can't I have that chance? The chance all those other femmes are given, you're going to deny me?"

He didn't look at her, but his dental plates ground together and his fists clenched on the berth. He didn't have the chance to reply.

Sunstreaker stepped into the room, carrying a small tray of coolant cubes. He clenched his jaw as he glanced around the room, frustration eking out of his frame. He didn't say anything as he handed a cube to Prowl. Sideswipe looked intently at Prowl, almost glaring, but she recognized his contemplative expression. He took the coolant and downed it in one gulp. Sunstreaker was right there with a second cube.

Sunstreaker's abilities to predict his brother's needs amazed her. They knew each other so well, it seemed. Had she caused this discord by coming into their life? Her doorwings drooped as she contemplated how they both must have felt while she degraded the lifestyle they truthfully had no choice but to live. Would they live apart if they had a choice? Could they live apart? Her research had never shown otherwise. Always twins existed together, cohabitating, keeping their lives secret. And if they couldn't, could she expect them to not find each other irresistible; knowing each other so well, _feeling_ each other every day as they did. Could she blame them for not being able to understand the boundaries of a natural sibling relationship? Could she-

All processes froze as Sideswipe suddenly, and certainly unexpectedly, grabbed his brother's wrist and dragged him down. Their mouths met with a hard klink; lips scraping against each other with unprecipitated vigor. It didn't take long before Sunstreaker's ventilators started and he moaned against his brother's lips.

Prowl couldn't keep the disgust from clenching her hands, her optics from shuttering; vorns of habit bidding her to react automatically. Vorns of beliefs wouldn't simply disappear in one astrosecond, but she forced her hands to relax, and her optics to open.

The tray had fallen sometime while Prowl wasn't looking, she hadn't even heard it hit the floor, but the coolant spattered over Sunstreaker's legs in a fascinating pattern, spilling over his feet and onto the floor. His hands wandered over Sideswipe's shoulders and she flinched again, doorwings twitching involuntarily.

Sideswipe had been watching her and he narrowed his optics at her. "_This is what you're asking for, Prowl. This is what we do. You can have me, by myself, but do you really want this?"_

She watched them, watched Sunstreaker's lips trail down Sideswipe's jaw hinge to the lines of his throat. Sideswipe tilted his head back, optics darkening, lips parting to let out a husky groan. She couldn't tell if he was putting on a show for her, or was honestly reacting to Sunstreaker's attentions.

Sunstreaker stroked his fingers down Sideswipe's chest and holding area.

She moved closer, unable to tear her gaze away from the two mechs in front of her. Her ventilators worked to cool her systems heated with the memory of those golden hands touching her. She may not be able to delete her response to them immediately, but she could possibly recondition and reprogram it.

Sunstreaker still attended Sideswipe's neck, leaving her lover's mouth panting and alone. Sideswipe didn't seem to notice her approach, engrossed in the feeling of his brother's mouth on his neck, of his own hands on the golden plating.

He sighed when one of her hands rested on his mag plate. She gained his attention, when she pressed her naked frame against his, sliding her plated knee between his thigh. She felt Sunstreaker sweep his sensors over her, heard the soft, possessive buzz of protest from his vocalizer.

She ignored him, instead focusing her gaze on Sideswipe's closed mouth. He stared back at her, uncertain, his gaze flicking down toward her naked frame, only to quickly look back up when he realized his error. She settled her mouth over his, enjoying the way his lips conformed to her own. She cupped his jaw in her hands as she leaned over him, pressing him down toward the berth.

He resisted, bracing his arms behind him. "_Prowl, what are you doing?" _He didn't, however, resist as she slipped her glossa into his mouth.

She moved in when she noticed Sunstreaker had pulled away, aware of his gaze on her doorwings. "_Do I really need to answer that, Sideswipe?_"

An uncertain touch, brushing across the edge of her doorwings. An unspoken query, not directed at her, not even transmitted on any tangible channel. Then Sunstreaker moved behind her, sure fingers unhooking her canopy, tossing it to the side with a clang, allowing him to stroke down the line of her back. His fingers delved into the visible gears that quietly whirred within her backside. She moaned at the vibrations of his fingers as they came into contact with the working machinery, as he caressed the exposed circuits and cable. He pressed up against her back, hands gripping her elbows while he pressed kisses on to her shoulders and neck. The golden mech stroked his hands down her sides, fingertips brushing against her breast.

Prowl wriggled in his arms, panting excitedly as Sunstreaker slid a knee between her legs. She kissed down Sideswipe's neck, nipping gently; moaning as Sunstreaker continued his explorations down her holding area.

The golden twin leaned past Prowl, taking possession of the mouth that Prowl had freed. The soft whisper of his ventilators humming against her doorwings drove Prowl into a tactile frenzy. She groped at Sideswipe's legs, digging her fingers into his thighs, and the plating that covered his calves.

Sideswipe lifted a hand to stroke his brother's headvents, their lips squealing against each other. "_This is really unfair of both of you!_"

Prowl picked up the subtle buzz of a second channel; Sideswipe relaying the same message to his brother.

Sunstreaker spoke aloud, his vocalizer staticked and husky with desire. "If you make me stop again Sideswipe, I swear I'll pound you. I don't want your femme, except for the odd romp." She met his cold gaze, his fingers tweaking a sensor on her thigh. "I'll pound her, too, if she tries to make this is anything more."

Sideswipe turned his head to nuzzle Prowl's chevron. "Threatening Prowl doesn't exactly endear you to me, bro."

"I'm not 'his femme,'" she growled at the same time.

Sunstreaker snorted. "Like I care. Just shut up and give me another kiss."

Sunstreaker lingered in the kiss only for a moment, and then he turned his attention to Prowl again. His hands traveled down her waist, caressing her silver thighs. He placed a kiss on her upper arm, his hands continuing their journey down her calf plating.

"_We don't have to, Sideswipe."_ Prowl swept her lips back up to his, letting her meet his gaze. She rubbed her fingers over his cheekguard and pressed a tender kiss to his cheek, just under his optic. "_Tell me, to stop and I'll walk away. I'll leave you two alone." _

Sunstreaker tugged at one of her leg plates, unlatching them and working them off her leg.

Sideswipe closed his optics, venting a soft sigh. He pulled her face down so their optics met. "_Leave? Fraggit, Prowl, I don't want you to leave. Don't say things like that while you're doing this!" _His fingers tightened on her shoulders. "_Don't go. Stay." _He pressed a tender kiss to her lips, his glossa sliding along her lips with a delicious thrill.

"Are you two quite done arguing on private channels yet?" Sunstreaker suddenly snapped, plating dropped to the floor, and despite his harsh words, his fingers explored the wires of her calf gently. He nipped her thigh, attracting her gaze as he lay his vent against her knee. But it wasn't Prowl whom he looked at.

Sideswipe leaned his head against Prowl's chevron, his gaze on his brother. "Yeah, we're done."

A smile twitched on her lips. "It's nice to know that you care about your brother's happiness, _Sunny." _

Sunstreaker looked up, expression serious as he dug his fingers into the gears buried under the wires. A sharp, pleasant, painful sensation that made Prowl throw her head back with a gasp of surprise. He pulled her legs out from under her, twisting her around so that she lay in Sideswipe's lap. "I do care about his happiness, Prowl," he purred as he crawled up to kiss her on the mouth; his lips as warm and sensuous as she remembered them. "Otherwise I'd slag you for calling me that." He didn't stay long, making his way back down to her legs, leaving a trail of hot kisses as he went.

Sideswipe caressed Prowl's cheek, and chin, running his fingers over her lips. His optics however stayed on the golden mech shaking the plating off her legs. He leaned down, rubbing his lips over her chevron, his hand stroking down her neck and over her collar ridge. He murmured senseless words as he trailed kisses down her face and to her lips. He caught her lips, as Sunstreaker threw the other piece of plating to the floor.

The golden fingers probed along the back of her legs, his optics half shuttered as he fingered the twitching gears and ran his fingers along the wires and tubing in the back of her leg. He kissed her legs, running his glossa over the seams of her knees. He rubbed her feet against his chest, his optics dark and unfocused as he seemed to immerse himself in the feel of her legs against him, his hands on her calves.

Sunstreaker stroked her in all the right ways, his fingers finding every sensitive nook and cranny in the back of her legs. Oh Primus! Oh Primus, she never knew that touching that area... could feel... so good. She gasped, writhing in the twins' grasp and moisture coated her mouth.

Sideswipe pulled away suddenly, panting, fingers tightly gripping her chest. He resisted her efforts to pull him back down and resume the kiss. His dark optics, and the twitching hardware by her audio receiver showed the effect of her lubricated kiss.

She caressed his cheekguard, his chin, desperate to alleviate the desire coursing through her circuits.

The plated legs under her back shifted and Sideswipe trembled as he licked traces of lubricant from his lips. Her name drifted from his vocalizer, drawing her to him like an inexorable force. She pulled herself up, wanting to taste those lips again as Sunstreaker continued to handle her legs like the finest art.

The golden mech grunted as she pushed her feet against his chest, as she leveraged herself toward his brother.

Sideswipe leaned down, brushing his lips against her cheeks, "You want Sunstreaker, right now, not me, remember?" They stared at each other, the disapproval still evident in his frown.

She slid her hands around his neck, stroking him reassuringly as she leaned against his chestplate. "Sunny, is there a femme that's been able to resist your 'charms'?"

Sunstreaker paused in nuzzling against her thigh. "Keep calling me that and you'll be the first I start on and never finish." He trailed kisses down her thigh. "No femme can resist me when I put out. I can't help it that I'm irresistible."

She allowed a smile to twitch her lips as she shoved him with her bared foot. "Am I to be more than any of those other femmes, Sides?" She shut off her vocalizer on anymore words. She had no wish to dent Sideswipe's already scratched pride. Her doorwings wilted, sliding against his side. "Sideswipe, I love you."

Sunstreaker nipped at the junction of waist and legs, the soft click of his dental plates on her seamless dermal plating drawing a gasp from her ventilators.

Sideswipe's optics softened, and Prowl wondered what had passed between the brothers. Had they been speaking this entire time?

"I love you, too, Prowl."

She moved to kiss the naked mech, but Sideswipe wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled back. She squealed at the unexpected move, doorwings pressing against his sides. He held her to his torso, pressing kisses to her neck

A shudder racked her frame as Sunstreaker probed her with his rubbery glossa. She whimpered, twisting and turning as he caressed the edges of her receptive port.

She wriggled in Sideswipe's arms, trying to reach her lover's lips. He buried his face in her shoulder, sliding his legs between her own and using his knees to spread them wider for his brother's. His hardware prodded against her thigh, contrasting with the controlled front he displayed.

She yelped and whimpered as the golden mech's glossa reached into her, teasing her.

Sunstreaker kissed his way up her holding area, stroking the dips at the side of her engine with his glossa earning another whimper and moan. Sideswipe's hands traveled ahead of his brother's lips, caressing ands soothing over her curves. Air washed over her shoulders and neck, the desperate intakes of a heated system. He paused at her breasts, molding their shape, fondling them. His black fingers swept over the sensor nodes on her breast, and she gasped, bucking at the ecstasy that rushed through her systems.

The mechs grunted as she shoved against them, and Sideswipe repeated the gesture.

Lubricant burned in her mouth and she yearned for nothing more than to kiss one of them, to spread the sweet solution over their chassis. She grabbed at one of Sideswipe's hand, pulling it up to her lips.

Metal thunked onto the carpeted floor; Sunstreaker's chestplate.

He rubbed his bared frame against her waist and holding area, his engine purring delightfully between her thighs. He pulled himself up and kissed her on the lips, his optics darkening further as he slid a hand behind her head, delving into her mouth with his glossa. He felt wonderful against her naked form.

She squirmed under him, returning the kiss with no less fervor. Both of the mechs groaned, their grips tightening on her as she pressed against them, scraping across their dermal plating, and Sideswipe's exposed shaft.

Sunstreaker's hands slid down to Sideswipe, even as he deepened the kiss with Prowl. Their glossa twining and sweeping into the other's mouths, her sweet smelling lubricant drove Sunstreaker into a frenzy; rubbing against her, his hands grabbing at Sideswipe underneath her.

Sideswipe groaned, thrusting against her thigh, hardware active and ready. "Sunny!"

Her gears ticked against his chest, and he squeezed the breasts he still gripped spasmodically.

"You're not ready," Sunstreaker murmured against her lips.

She didn't need him to tell her that; programs still initialized on her HUD, and her mouth still burned from the lubricant. Sunstreaker's attentions turned to her neck, mouthing, biting and nipping while she ran her glossa over his vents; her hands all over his shoulders and back. She plucked at his hip plating, rubbing her thighs against his waist suggestively. She ached with need for him, the desire to feel him between her legs and stroking inside her.

He continued down to her chest, licking at the slope of her breast. The lubricant he had picked up from her mouth burned against her chestplate, setting off the sensors with chemical resonance of the unmixed lubricant. Sideswipe released her breast to caress his brother's neck. Sunstreaker didn't move Sideswipe's fingers when they gripped her again. Rather he worked around the black fingers, pausing to nip at the joints and struts. The feel of the glossa sliding into the groove where Sideswipe's digit and her breast met, under the bent joints of his brother's fingers had Prowl crying out-- screaming as he rubbed the sensitive knob underneath one of those joints. She bucked against him, mouth gaping as he moved to the other breast. She panted, writhed, causing both mechs to groan and pant against her. Sunstreaker buried his face in valley of her breasts, his vents scraping against his brother's fingers.

"Sideswipe!" It was the closet to begging she would come. She reached behind her, grabbing at Sideswipe.

"I think she's ready, bro," Sideswipe groaned, releasing her with one hand and pulling it away toward his head.

Sunstreaker grunted, but caught her lips again. Panting with need as he ground himself against her. Then he pulled away, sitting up on his knees to look down at them as he worked the plating off his hips.

She didn't want to stop, didn't want _him_ to stop. She twisted about, trying to find her lover's face, so that she might kiss him into the same frenzy she had worked her brother. She pressed her lips against Sideswipe's cheek seam, but he pulled away.

"No, Prowl. This is Sunny's chance with you," he rubbed his cheekguard against against her nasal ridge, his normal grin distracted by his panting mouth. "But I'll be here with you the whole time, riding him while he's in you."

She shuddered at the sultry purr in his voice, the eager pant of his vocalizer. She reached behind her head, stroking his audio horns as Sunstreaker threw his hip plates to the floor.

"So I can't kiss you?"

He laughed at her petulant whine. "No, you can't." He hissed as she wriggled in disappointment. "You can't handle three overloads so close together." His arms lid around her torso. "Slag, _I_ can't handle three overloads too close together." He tightened his grip as she tried to get up.

"Sideswipe, I need to sit up. Sunny needs to be lubri-"

"Nobody's putting their slagging mouth on my hardware!" Sunstreaker snapped suddenly. "That, Sides," he squeezed a solution from a tube, "is why I don't bring femmes home. They want to put their moist little mouths on everything you own."

Sideswipe bit into her neck, tweaking the sensor on her breast. He plugged his interface cable into the port under her headgear. Then he dug his fingers into her doorhinges.

Anything she might have retorted at Sunstreaker died with the activation of her interface programming. He integrated himself into her systems like he was made for them, brushing against her firewalls like a glass cat that's keen on the oil in your hand.

She gasped, arching her back as he ran his electronic fingers through her processor.

Her optics reset, flickering as he settled into her mind as easily as he settled into her recessed port.

Then she was looking at Sunstreaker...

..._my twin_...

and such affection filled her as she never thought possible...

_...can I help but love him?..._

What was Sideswipe doing?

..._sharing my love... sharing the feeling of him joined to me... the only way I'm able..._

She gasped as he stroked her breast, sharing the sensation with him, having the weight of her pressing into him returned equally to her.

Sunstreaker settled over her, looking her over with that calculating gaze of his. His dark optics flickered, and he pressed his lips against her mouth, his glossa sliding around her mouth hungrily.

He broke away to kiss her chin, his hands braced on the bed as he thrust himself into her. Sideswipe bucked, his hands spasming on Prowl's waist. Sunstreaker shifted and thrust forward again. She shared the sensation of herself rocking over him as Sunstreaker pressed himself further in.

The cold lubricant made her whine, but she wrapped her legs around his waist; the gears of her calves pinging against his aft as she moved with him. She panted, gripping his shoulders, unable to process clearly enough to do more than that.

She felt each of their movements like she wasn't even between them, or like she was Sideswipe returning Sunstreaker's invasion thrust for thrust. It wasn't her that Sunstreaker kissed, that Sideswipe pressed against with such need.

She wasn't there.

She had never felt so small in the universe.

Then Sideswipe played through her systems, activating sensor nodes and diagnostic programs; sending her into writhing fits, clinging to his brother (but it was Sideswipe clinging to the golden mech).

Tears blurred her vision, and her (maybe it was Sideswipe's) hand rose to brush them away, his words a gentle whisper of reassurances.

Sunstreaker jolted against her, grunting, the connection snapping into place. As suddenly as it was made, it disappeared and she cried out at an unexpected buzz from within her.

"What the- Sunny? What was-"

She struggled to push him away, but Sideswipe stroked her doorhinges, sending a pulse of data through their interface.

"It's okay, Prowl," Sunstreaker murmured against her shoulder as he resumed stroking himself inside her, "it's just a peripheral. I don't want it over so soon." He moved his attentions back down to her breast, biting Sideswipe's fingers and nipping at her sensor nodes. Her fingers sang with the delight of his touch, sharing in the sensation of Sunstreaker's dental plates on Sideswipe's digits as surely as if it was on her own.

They wrapped her in the rocking cocoon of their affection for each other, Sideswipe's affection for her bleeding together with his love for Sunstreaker. Every time Sunstreaker connected, vocalizer surging with a grunt, his peripheral buzzed him loose.

The tip of Sideswipe's shaft rubbed against the hilt of his brother's, and Prowl felt it like a peripheral to her own frame. The red twin gripped her hips hard enough to dent the curves, trying to meet each of his brother's thrusts.

"Sunny!" Sideswipe gasped. His status changed to yellow in her HUD over their connection.

Sunstreaker suddenly pulled out, and away, leaving her panting and confused. He disconnected a jack from his shaft, removing a peripheral motor attached to his hilt. Then he pounced on her again, his dark optics unfocused as he drove himself back into her, ramming his hips into her, and connecting hard and sudden.

Her systems redlined, following Sideswipe into overload as Sunstreaker's energy poured through her relays. She wailed, her voice mingling with the two mech's; firewalls redirecting the spark energy into storage cells, and then over the interface.

They lay tangled together as their systems rebooted, engines chugging uncertainly.

Sunstreaker pulled away first, disengaging himself from her and rolling away. His intakes worked hard to cool his heated systems off, his dim optics watching his brother and Prowl.

Sideswipe carefully moved Prowl onto her side, minding that the doorwing bent the right way. He didn't relent his grip on her hips, kissing the rods in her back as she shifted against him.

She wondered if they really needed anyone else, when they had each other.

..._sparked loving him… fell in love with you…need you…_

Shaking fingers pulled the interface cable free of Prowl's headgear.

"Sunny," the golden mech's optics narrowed, "I'm sorry I didn't stop to listen to you at first." Her doorwings twitched. "Nothing should get between you two-"

"You can. Unless you fragging call me slagging Sunny again."

She looked at him a little warily as he slid closer, putting an arm around her waist, and hence over Sideswipe's. His face settled close to hers, almost uncomfortably close.

"You... You can get between us." He smirked. "Besides, I want a go at the bottom next time." He kissed her lips, gently without any tenderness, before leaning his head against her chest, optics shuttered.

"_He likes you, Prowl_," Sideswipe pressed a kiss to her headgear, his hands soothing over her torso. "_Though you'll go to the Pit and back before you hear it from him._" He reached a hand into her doorhinge, absently tweaking the joints. "_We haven't done this in a while. A _long_ while. Thank you. It means a lot to me."_

Drained from both the data and power overload, she couldn't do more than pat his hand before curling into the warmth of the two mechs around her.

Maybe she wasn't so unnecessary.

How many femmes would be willing to accept their relationship, as morally illogical, and at the same time understandably logical, as it was?

Prowl thought she should be proud that she was one of those few.

-Fin-

* * *

Author's Post Notes: Wheeeeeee that was quite a ride. I hope everyone liked the smut at least, I tried to end the actual story believably. Liked it? Hate it? 'WTF are you _thinking?? _You wrote _sticky!_'. Drop me a line.

I'm sorry I didn't respond to reviews in the past two chapters, it's been a hectic week. ;


	5. It Takes Two to Tango

It Takes Two to Tango

**Pairing **Sunny/Prowl (mention of Prowl/Sideswipe  
**Warnings** Mechanical sticky, Prowl being a slut, insert ye ole butchering o' Prowl's character joke here,  
**Summary **There's no such thing as plot. Oh, alright, Sides has been off on a business trip for two months and Prowl is horny. Sunny is handy (also a little horny himself).  
**Author's Note **This started out as an attempt for Prowl to get Sunstreaker back for part two of Twin Ties. Seducing Sunny then suddenly turned into a power play between the two. Will there be more? -evil grin- Why, yes, there wil.

* * *

Sunstreaker expected an empty apartment when he came home. Sideswipe was off planet taking care of some business, and Prowl hadn't visited the apartment for the whole of the two lunar cycles. It didn't necessarily surprise him. Sideswipe was her main reason for visiting, though he supposed that he enjoyed her company as well. Without his brother present she had no reason to stop by. Not that Sunstreaker was bereft of company, but tonight he'd parted ways with his model at the studio unsatiated from his work. The drive had cooled him some, but he looked forward to a little private time to relieve his need.

He didn't expect to see Prowl curled up on the couch, dim optics staring at the monitor set in the wall. He paused just inside the door, his systems surging with alarm until he recognized her particular shade of blue, and the glistening doorwings behind her shoulders.

He pressed his lips together, jerking his gaze away from her sharp curves. Sideswipe had given her the access codes to the apartment shortly after the three of them had reached their understanding. He'd invited her to come over whenever she felt the need.

Sunstreaker couldn't really blame her desire to be here, he understood how much she missed Sides, he knew far better than she could ever know.

Her head lifted and she turned toward the door. "Sides?"

"He's not due back for another solar cycle," Sunstreaker answered heading into the kitchen.

* * *

Prowl rolled her head against the back of the couch. Primus, she ached for Sideswipe to be there. She wanted him, and wanted his touch. Still another solar cycle until his return. She watched as Sunstreaker seated himself next to her, golden frame coiling up as though prepared to spring back up at any moment. He took a sip from the cube in his hand, watching the news feed on the screen.

She sighed, dragging her gaze away from the golden mech and watching the nothing that happened on the screen. They sat like that for a long cycle, neither saying a word. Prowl faded back offline for brief intervals, snapping online at the slightest shift from her lover's twin.

That gave her pause. She slid a glance at him, remembering the way his lips and hands felt on her. He was nothing like Sideswipe, and yet they were an extension of each other.

Sunstreaker tipped the last of his energon into his mouth, dispersing the cube and standing up. "I'm going to recharge. Are you staying here?" He glanced at her before turning and walking away. "Shut everything down and lock up if you leave."

Prowl blinked as she realized that he was walking right by the washroom. She magnified her vision, verifying the paint and clay still caked on his frame from his day at the studio.

"You're not even going to clean up first?"

He paused and glanced down at his arms. "I can do that in the morning."

She stood, hesitating only for an astrosecond before she slid up to him and touched his arm. "You shouldn't recharge looking so filthy." His arm tensed under her hand but she tugged at him anyways. "Come on. You look absolutely horrible."

That seemed to do the trick and Sunstreaker didn't resist as she led him back to the washroom. She found his special setting (conveniently labeled 'Post-art', more than likely for Sideswipe's benefit) and activated the stream of warm cleanser.

He stumbled into the stall, but she snatched cleaning cloth from the ledge before Sunstreaker could grab for it.

"Nah uh, this is for me to do." She grinned at his sour frown, dancing out of his reach with the cloth.

"Prowl," he growled, "I'm not really in the mood."

She pouted at him. "I just want to help, _Sunny_. Won't you let me?"

Sunstreaker growled. "Don't call me Sunny." But he didn't resist as she moved in and stroked the cloth down his shoulder magplate.

She ran the cloth down his arm, the soft material rushing gently over his polished metal. He stared at her as she paused to scrub at a spot of paint that decorated his wrist guard. She raised his arm, turning his hand over so that she might examine the joints, aware of his gaze on her the entire time. His fingers twitched just in front of her nasal ridge as she buffed clashing colors off his fingers.

He shifted, bracing a hand against the wall as she brushed her lips against the tips of his fingers. A moan burst out of his vocalizer, and he jerked his hand away for a brief astrosecond. Again, he didn't fight as she pulled his hand back, rubbing the cleanser over his hand.

She finished with his hand, gliding the cloth back up his arm and over his chestplate. She stooped a little, her doorwings wavering for balance as she searched his canopy for more leftovers from his work. She worked around his windshield, digging her fingers into the corners to go after more gunk. "You have quite a bit built up in here," she breathed. "I thought you liked to keep yourself pristine." She crouched a little lower, peering at a particularly difficult spot.

His systems whirred and he grunted as she swept the cloth over his groinplate. "What," he snapped, "are you fragging doing?" In spite of his best efforts he vented sharply again as she pressed the cloth to the joining of his pelvis and thigh.

"I'm cleaning you, silly," she retorted teasingly. She pressed into the seam, feeling the cables give under the cloth.

He groaned, bucking his hips into her touch. She smiled and continued down his legs. The soft cloth brought out a high shine even on his wet frame, and she pressed her lips against his thigh, drawing another grumbling moan from his vents. She worked her way back up his other leg, her door wings twitching as his hand brushed against them. She diligently scrubbed at every spot she came across, laving her glossa over the area for a final squeak of cleanliness. He twitched under her attentions, gasping with each squeak, and she could practically hear his hardware already coming online.

Prowl inspected Sunstreaker's yellow fingers, turning the dexterous hand over, admiring the fine workings of his joints as the quietly whirred.

He pressed against the wall of the shower as she rubbed the cloth in slow circular strokes over the surface his palm, his ventilators activating with the sudden need to cool his systems.

She stroked the cloth up his seamless neck, pressing her lips against the cables and tubing hidden beneath. She detected his hands hovering over her waist, the flickering indecision in his dark optics. Still she coaxed him into letting her press against him, rolling her hips against his thigh erotically.

He vented again, sudden and explosive, his hands finally resting on her waist. He leaned down as though to kiss her, but he thought better of it; jerking his head up to pant into the steam.

That simply wouldn't do.

She brushed the cloth against his jaw hinge, just a light caress that sent a shiver through his frame, making his hips buck against her again. She smoothed the cloth along the joining of his faceplates and his vent, rubbing a finger along the yellow ridges . He moaned, his grip tightening on her waist. She reached around to the other side of his face to repeat the action on his other vent.

"Nggah, Prowl," he moaned long and languorous, turning his face toward her wrist to press kisses to her arm.

She didn't cease her motions with the cloth, but she brought up her other hand running her fingers over the curve of his vent and the tip of his horn. He shuddered, clenching her closer to his frame.

"Did she leave you with your hardware running?" Prowl murmured, breathing over the ridges of the elegant vents that framed his face.

He groaned in response, nuzzling into her neck and nipping her gently. He hissed as she pressed against him, pushing him into the wall. "Primus, this what you want, Prowl?" His voice rasped with desire, roughened by heated systems and involuntary surges. He nipped her again, and again biting harder.

There were moments in the time since they'd met that she wondered where that handsome mech who had charmed her nearly into overload with the sound of his voice had vanished to. Where she couldn't believe this was the same mech who had her writhing for his touch in the span of a cycle.

This was not one of those times.

Like some perverted switch he shut on and off at will, Sunstreaker turned the tables and had her pressed against the shower wall, her doorwings scraping the tiled wall. His hands kneaded her waist, and he wasted no more time in pleasantries, working her chestplate off and filling his mouth with the curve of her breast. She writhed in his embrace, his glossa playing over her sensor node sending surges through her sensory grid, through her vocalizer making her cry out.

Moisture smeared around her mouth, the chemical pleasantly burning as it started mixing in specialized glands within her cheeks structures. She gasped as he squeezed her other breast with his other hand.

He didn't seem concerned with the tenderness he'd displayed that night cycle in Sideswipe's room; her dermaplating giving under his hard grip.

She refused to simply subject to his man-handling , her hands running over his shoulder plating, and lips and glossa playing over his vent.

He gasped against her breast, glossa snaking out to stroke the soft curve. He shoved her up the wall, supporting her weight with his hands gripping her rear, and rubbing at her pelvic joints.

His engine grumbled as he kissed his way up her neck and dominated her mouth, their glossa tangling and stroking. His fans kicked on, blowing softly from the vents along his face and he ground their groins together, his hips bucking incessantly against her.

She moaned into his mouth, letting the vibrations from her vocalizer rattle their lips together.

He suddenly dropped her, staggering against the perpendicular wall and catching his balance with a golden hand on the showerhead. He panted into the streaming cleanser, his indigo optics never leaving her face. "I shouldn't..." he burst out. "Not without Sides..."

Prowl pressed her lips against a frown, pulling herself up the wall from where she'd clanged onto the floor. Her doorwings flicked off excess cleanser streaming down her panels. She moved toward the golden mech, hands sliding up his golden canopy. "Don't you think Sides would appreciate it if he knew that I could take care of you," her fingers curved around the back of his neck, pulling his head unresisting back down to her, "while he's away." Her lips brushed against his, her glossa sliding against the bend of his lower lip .

He trembled with need, not fighting her as she licked around his mouth, leaving trace amounts of her lubricant where his olfactory sensors would likely pick it up best. His ventilations increased, drawing in the sweet scent of her kisses and expelling heated air in a rush.

She let him consider her words, though not without continuing to convince him with her hands wandering over his frame, plucking at the catches to his chest plate without releasing them. She ravished his mouth, teasing him by pulling away every time he tried to respond, leaving him panting again. She arced her doorwings into the hands he lay against their edge, letting him finger them as she slid her own hands down to his latches of his waist plating.

She worked the latches off one by one, kissing his lips and nasal ridge, no longer having to hold him down. He whimpered, engine turning and fans blowing. He followed her mouth, sounds bursting from his vocalizer, all but begging for more.

She grinned, nipping at his cheek seam as the plating finally came free and dropped to the floor like so much useless junk. She pressed herself against him, feeling his shaft ready against her hip. The lubricant in her mouth slicked over his lips with the frictionless ease required for normal coupling.

'_Nobody puts their mouth on my slagging hardware!'_ she recalled him saying that first time. She would have to see about that.

"Do you want more, Sunny?"

He moaned, hands flexing on her doorwings.

"Tell me you want it," her whisper purred against his jaw, echoed by the fingers she stroked over his rod, and the plug at the tip.

"Slagging Primus!"

Not quite the answer she was looking for. She pressed him back into the wall, rubbing against the twitching shaft, her hands splayed on the wall behind his vents. "Try again, Sunny." She rubbed her lips against the ridges on his vents, enjoying the way he clutched at her doorwings and bucked against her teasing rubs.

"Frag!" His hands slid down the panels on her back, digging into her hinges and making _her_ gasp and give under his touch.

She clawed at the wall as he fingered the wiring and joints hidden under her canopy. "No," she spat, vocalizer surging with needy sounds she refused to let out. "Tell me what you want."

He growled instead, head turning to reveal a hunger in his face, in the set of his dental plates, and the narrowing of his optics. "You tell me." And his hands dropped to her waist, prying at the latches two at a time in his eagerness to have her. His wet fingers slipping, but never giving up. He nuzzled against her audio receiver, buzzing with a snarl. "And _don't_ call me Sunny."

"You- ," she gasped, struggling to maintain her control, "you're actions speak louder than-" Still she didn't resist his continued efforts to divest her of her plating. She reached down to run a finger over his shaft, determined not to let him have the last say in this. She curled her hand around him, savoring the ridges that hid his jacks and plucking at the end of his plug.

Air rushed through her ventilator, yellow warnings flashing across her diagnostics, the pounding of the shower stimulating every sensor that Sunstreaker wasn't. The golden mech smirked as her plating clanked to the tiled floor, assured of his victory over her.

His grip relaxed, shifting , and she grabbed at the opening. She dropped to her knees, and with no warning took his shaft into her mouth.

He froze over her, startled, swiftly turning to indignation. "You..."

She couldn't smirk, but her optics gleamed up at him, and she played her glossa over him, her fingers clicking against his thigh, and stroking the cabling under a seam.

He gasped, hard and sharp, bucking his hips against her as she worked lubricant over his shaft. Words and curses burst from his vocalizer as he grasped at her head, but he couldn't stop the motion of his hips.

She worked her mouth over his rod, both in licking parts and in a whole mouthful, reducing the proud mech to whimpers and startled shouts. She stimulated him far longer than she normally did, enjoying this power she held over a mech who could arouse her with a simple glance. Surges ran through her mouth from his plug, the energy heating the metal of his hardware to near unbearable levels.

When she stood, something altogether frightening seemed to lurk within his optics and he seized her, twisting her around and slamming his frame against her, and then her into the wall he had just been leaning against. He kept her hands pinned behind his back, and his foot shoved her legs apart, but he took a moment to lean in and growl into her audio receiver, "I don't like nasty mouths on my hardware, _doll,_ don't make me tell you again."

She glared defiantly back at him, and wriggled her hips against the shaft poking her. "You seemed to have enjoyed it."

Air hissed from between his dental plates and he released her hands to grip her waist, moving her so that he could plunge himself into her port. He thrust into her, dental plates gritted and bared, optics dim as he stared at nothing , concentrating on the motion of his hips.

She flicked her doorwings, spreading her legs a little more, and bracing her hands against the wall to shove back against him, meeting his stabbing bucks. He glided inside of her. In and out. Harder. Faster. Lubricant warm and slick. His shaft hard within her. His grunting moans playing across her doorwings as he turned part of his attention on them, his hand gripping the bottom edge of the panel, only to scrabble for her waist to drive himself in again, and then back to the panel.

She panted against her arm, wanting to kiss him, wanting the plug that scraped against her recessed port to make its connection, to fill her with the energy that zapped out of the inverted plug. What the frag was he doing??

He stopped suddenly, his hands groping her inner thighs. He didn't say anything, even in response to her curious look, and then his entire shaft rotated inside of her, turning so that the plug could meet the port and successfully connect. He resumed his thrusting in earnest, hands sweeping over her doorwings and back down to her waist and then over her canopy and caressing her shoulders. And then his plug struck home, and his hips rolled with the force of the power exchanged.

The wall was truthfully the only thing holding either of them up. Sunstreaker wavered on his feet, dragging at Prowl's torso, his hardware still connected to her. Cleanser still pounded at them, and Prowl slapped at the controls until the stream stopped (going through different cycles while she was at it as well). When he finally disengaged, he sat back on the floor still panting, dark optics watching as she slid down the wall, twisting about to face him.

They stared at one another, not needing words to acknowledge what had been a lust-driven act. They sat there for a breem, letting their systems cycle down. When all of her readings came back normal, Prowl stood and extended a hand to Sunstreaker.

The golden mech blinked at her, contemplating the proffered hand before he took it and led her out of the shower and into the hallway, unlatching remaining bits of plating as they went.


	6. Three's a Crowd

Three's a Crowd

**Summary **Follow-up to _It Takes Two to Tango_, Sideswipe comes home from his business trip.  
**Warning **Twin groping, bit of a LamboSammich as well. Obligatory butchering of Prowl's character joke here.

* * *

A femme lay next to him.

Dried lubricant formed a crust on his lips, though the sweet smell had faded away to nothing. His glossa squeaked across the corner of his mouth, trying to clean some of the gunk off his face. He had an arm wrapped around the femme's waist, holding her tightly to him.

He released her, sweeping his hand up her doorwing as he pulled away.

She grabbed his hand, her optics brightening slightly as she gave him a half smile. Then she tucked his arm back around her waist and snuggled closer, tossing her leg casually across his hips.

He stiffened, his engine grumbling as she pressed against his inactive hardware.

Her lips caressed over his neck, content with stroking her fingers on the same spot on his side over and over so that she didn't have to move her hand.

His systems twitched, and he wanted to tell her to stop, but he couldn't find the energy. Even as annoying as it was, it felt too fragging good for him to command his vocalizer online. His hand tightened around her waist, and he eyed her frame, frowning at the small dents and dings in it.

"You were really depleted last night," she purred into his throat.

He hummed in response, his hand wandering from her waist to her aft, and the hidden seam where her pelvis met her thigh. He really didn't think he'd been all that depleted; he had managed another go at her before dropping off line.

The thought of the previous night's activities made him moan with pleasure.

Her mouth spread into a smile against his neck and she reached up to kiss his chin, stroking a hand down his audio vent.

He moaned again, spreading his palm to cup her round aft. An idle finger traced the line of her right rotator. He tilted his head to kiss her lips, metal squealing pleasantly together.

His spark stirred, pulsing gently in his chest with the awareness of his twin.

::_Have company, bro?::_

_::Fragger when'd you get back? Where the slag are you now?:: _He pulled away from the femme in his arms, seeking out a positioning on his twin.

::_I landed a few cycles ago, I'm in the lift, and on the way up. I wish Prowl were there. Primus I've missed you both.::_

Sunstreaker laughed out loud.

Prowl blinked at him. "What's so funny?"

Sunstreaker stretched out on the berth, feeling his twin step out of the lift. "Sides is home. He'll be coming through the door in a tic."

Prowl's optics lit up, and she pushed herself up, looking toward the door.

Sunstreaker eyed her frame, admiring her curves. He sent a tendril of need through his bond to his brother. ::_I think you'll like my company._::

The outer door hissed open and footsteps Sunstreaker could identify even in recharge came right up the hallway, without bothering to stop by the dispenser. ::_Primus, I think I'll take anyone right now. Even that slaghead courier mech from Altihex. You remember him, right, the one called Blu-::_

Hydraulics whined to a halt at the door. Sideswipe stood there, optics wide as he stared at the two bots on Sunstreaker's berth. His gaze traveled over Sunstreaker, and then turned to Prowl, optics darkening even as his mouth hung open, twisted between hunger and anger.

Prowl pulled one of her legs up, draping her arm on her knee joint. Her optics flashed at the red mech, head tilted to gaze at him from under her chevron. Her doorwings angled out, catching the light coming through the window. "Hello, Sideswipe."

Sideswipe's jaw dropped a few more micrometers, and Sunstreaker could have laughed aloud at the jumble of betrayal/lust/anger coming through their bond.

::_What the frag? Sunny!_::

Sunstreaker held back the grin, and stared at her, burning the image into his memory: the way the light played over her perfect little breasts, the half-lidded optics that gazed wantonly at his brother.

::_What the frag, what, Sides?::_

His fingers twitched with the desire to get the image into a tangible form.

Sideswipe composed himself and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms over his dull red chest. A frown finally pulled the corner of his mouth down as he glared at the two on Sunstreaker's berth.

::_What the frag are you doing with _my_ femme, Sunny?_::

Sunstreaker stood, stalking over to his brother. Sideswipe's optics followed his approach, though he didn't move so much as a servo. Sunstreaker hooked his fingers around one of his brother's audio horn and crushed their lips together, forcing his glossa into the other's mouth. ::_It's not my fault._::

_::Oh really?_::Sideswipe responded, kissing back. His arms wrapped around Sunstreaker's naked back to mash their chests together. ::_I find you two plateless on your berth? And it's not your fault?::_

::_Yes.:: _Sunstreaker grunted as his brother's hands played with the gears and rods in his back and he crushed the mech against the wall, scraping his hands along seams he hadn't touched in far too long.

Sideswipe's engine revved and he shoved Sunstreaker back without releasing his mouth. ::_Frag that!_:: His hands went from the open back to Sunstreaker's arms, caressing the bare shoulders with a hunger that wouldn't be denied.

Sunstreaker staggered against the berth, trying to stay upright. Sideswipe lunged forward and they toppled over together. Sunstreaker became too preoccupied with catching Sideswipe's hands to form a coherent answer. Sideswipe's hands were everywhere, finding all the sensitive areas left exposed to his fingers.

He pushed himself down the berth, trying to put just a little space between he and his brother. He didn't want the mech to stop touching him—oh Primus, he'd beat him to hot slag if he did—he just wanted to be able to think of a response.

Sideswipe would not win this argument.

::_Not. My. Fault._::

::_You know how I feel about this, Sunny!_:: Sideswipe didn't relent his hold, forcing Sunstreaker to drag him along.

Sunstreaker was dimly aware of Prowl's stare, but he didn't have time to give the femme any more than a bare sensor sweep of consideration. All his focus remained on keeping the upper hand on Sideswipe, making the mech writhe above him.

Sunstreaker growled, and tried to boost Sideswipe off to the side. Sideswipe still clung to him. They tumbled off the berth, landing in a tangle of arms and legs. Sideswipe grunted, having taken the brunt of the fall with his back. Sunstreaker lay sprawled atop him, and he slammed the black hands to the ground. Their ventilators whirred, working hard to cool their systems.

::_If _your_ femme goes around, throwing herself at me like some little doll, well, how the frag is it my fault?_::

Sideswipe pushed Sunstreaker away. ::_You're an aft._::

Sunstreaker smirked and pushed back to press another kiss on his brother's lips. ::_Missed you, too, slagger._::

He moved to get up, and caught a pair of wide blue optics staring down at the two of them.

"I can't believe you didn't stop kissing that whole time..."

Sideswipe's head fell back down and he laughed. Sunstreaker didn't fight the arms that wrapped around him and pulled him down for another kiss. Their lips slid together with squeaks and squeals. Sideswipe hummed into Sunstreaker's lips, a pleasing sound that Sunstreaker hadn't heard enough of in the past few decacycles.

Sunstreaker shot a smirk towards Prowl as he finally gained his feet. "I'm going to work. You two don't kill each other in here."

Sideswipe's grin slipped off his face. ::_But I just got home!_::

Sunstreaker huffed as glowered at the two. ::_And I'm not getting dragged into this. Besides I had a flash of inspiration._:: He didn't wait for any further reply, ignoring Sideswipe's attempts to reach him through their bond.

* * *

Sideswipe glared at the ceiling. Prowl's doorwings hovered in his peripheral vision, her gaze heavy on his sensors. His hardware twitched, ready and far too eager to be put to use.

"What the frag was that about?" Prowl asked. The berth creaked as she disappeared out of his view.

Sideswipe didn't bother to look toward her. "You." He pushed himself off the floor.

"Me? What the slag did I do this time?"

Sideswipe snapped his head toward her, glare turning into a full-out scowl. She stared back, confusion on her face. His jaw opened and closed as he tried to work his vocalizer. Finally he just clenched his dental plates and stalked out of the room.

"Oh fraggit!" Metal clattered on the floor, following him out and into the dispenser area.

Sideswipe took a single cube down from the cupboard, setting it on the counter so that he could grab a few additives from the drawers under the counter.

"Sideswipe, really. You're being an aft again."

Sideswipe glared at her, optics blazing. He slammed the drawer he'd been rifling through closed. "Oh, _really? _And you're perfectly harmless? How many other mechs were you with while I was away."

Prowl rocked back on her heels, face slack with surprise. "_What?_ Wh- I never-" She snapped her mouth close to level a heated glare of her own at the red mech. "No one! I couldn't have you, so I went for the next best thing!"

Sideswipe froze, his vocalizer buzzing with laughter and surprise at her choice of words.

"I'm slagging sick of how possessive you always are. Slaggit, you can't tell me that you went without a single interface that whole time. But me?" She buzzed her vocalizer off. "I'm not arguing this over with you again. I thought you wouldn't mind if it was Sunny." She sharply turned and stomped off. "Welcome home, Slagswipe."

He snarled, and lunged for her. He snatched at her arm, spinning her back toward him. He swung her around, using her momentum to toss her into the wall. Sideswipe held her there with his body, his arms braced on the wall behind her. "You little glitching, alley doll! What the frag do you want from me? Sunstreaker's the last mech I'd want you interfacing with when I'm gone! You're the one thing- the one- the one person in my life that I don't want to have to share with him. You have needs! Yes, I realize this! Could you at least do it where I don't have to come home to you in the berth with him. I don't bring femmes here when I know you're waiting on me."

Prowl pulled her hands over her chest, as though only then realizing her lack of plating. "Oh..."

Sideswipe vented, frowning down at her. "Yeah, 'Oh'." He narrowed his optics at her, and leaned down a little to meet her optics. He arched an optic ridge. "Slagswipe?"

Her optics brightened and she looked everywhere but him. "Shut up, okay! I was overheating and it's the first thing that popped into my processor."

He chuckled, rubbing his nasal ridge against her cheek­, enjoying her embarrassment.

She squirmed against the wall, doorwings scrapping the tiling. "Oh, hush! Like you haven't done it, too. 'Sparkles' my aft."

He stared at the blue femme, all too aware of her state of plating. His engine gave a pleased rev as he admired her clean lines, even the yellow that streaked over her dermaplating. His smile tilted into a smirk. "Sunny's the next best thing is he?" he murmured lowly so that he didn't risk his brother overhearing.

She met his optics, the light in her eyes dimming down to a pale blue. "Don't you dare tell him I said that either! Then I'd have to hear every single one of your faults and how he's _so_ much better than you." She narrowed her optics, tilting her head to give him a peck on the lips.

Sideswipe shifted, taking one of his hands off the wall to caress the tips of his fingers over her shoulder. "Can I hear it a few more times though?" he asked as plaintively as he could. He pouted at her, trying for a cybercub look.

She smiled at him, lips curving beautifully as she practically draped herself against the wall. "You can hear it whenever you like, Slagswipe." She paused and glanced around his shoulder. "As long as Sunstreaker isn't in receiving range. Matter of fact, I'll leave that for comm only."

Sideswipe laughed, and then swooped in to claim lips that he hadn't tasted in too long.

She made a small sound of protest to the sudden action, but didn't fight him off. Her arms slid around his neck, pressing her naked frame to his chest. His engine revved, and his ventilators cut back on and he wanted more.

He dropped his hands to her waist, clenching at the curve of her hips. He tightened his grip and lifted her feet off the floor.

She yelped, breaking away from his kiss and staring it him with wide optics. "Sides?"

He pursued her lips, murmuring against them in a hoarse voice. "I want your legs around me."

She giggled, flicking her doorwings. "You've still got plating in the way." One of her hands slid down his red chest, igniting every sensor her fingers passed, to grope his plated hips.

He tossed his head back and moaned. He pawed at one of her legs, unable to tell which in his eagerness to have them around him. Metal squealed as he pressed her into the wall. His glossa swept into her open mouth, desperately, needfully.

She moaned into his mouth, her legs scraping up his thighs.

He whimpered, pressing her into the wall. Prowl's frame scraping over his dermaplating had him gasping. His hardware stirred, still active from his brief romp with Sunny. Sideswipe kissed down her neck, nipping at her dermaplating. He bent, grinding his hips against hers and he dragged his dental plates down the curve of her breast.

Her ventilators started, whirring within her chest. She vibrated against his face. Her arms wrapped around his head, clutching at his head as he played his glossa over her sensor node.

"Sides..." Her throaty whisper breezed over his audio horns, her lips playing over the jointed sensors.

He wailed into her chest, metal giving under his fingers.

She arched her back, releasing his horn with a soft squeal.

"Primus!" He reached up, catching her gasping mouth, the sweet scent of lubricant strong in his sensors, burning his lips. "I want you, I want you, I want you." He couldn't stop whimpering into her lips. He released one of her legs, to fight the latches of his hip plates off.

She shook her head. "I'm not ready yet."

He moaned, and stopped unlatching his hip plates to grope at her breasts.

Power surged through his hardware, painful zaps that jolted his waist. He bit at the soft metal of her neck, whining and flinching. "It's been too long, I don't want to wait."

His hand dropped and snapped off the last of the latches.

Her hands slapped down on his shoulders and she pushed at him. "Sides, no!"

The plating fell away and his shaft pressed against her crotch. He scrabbled through his subspace, sifting through it until he pulled out a long cylindrical object.

Prowl squirmed in his arms, but he held her securely against the wall. "Sideswipe, don't. It'll hurt!"

He nipped at her shoulders, unable to stop the shaking in his fingers as he worked the cap off the tube in his hands. "I've got it covered, Sparkles. I don't want to-don't wanna hurt'cha."

She stilled, staring down at him.

His optics half-lidded he could barely make out the glow of her optics, intent on squeezing the cold gel onto his fingers without spattering too much on the floor. He kissed her jaw, nipping at the seamless dip that covered the cabling that went between the hinges.

He managed to get a good enough-sized dollop into his palm and he tentatively touched his ready shaft. The cold gel ignited the hypersensitive relays, making him hiss between his dental plates. He rubbed the lubricant over his hardware, whimpering as his fingers hit each peripheral jack.

He nearly dropped Prowl.

Primus, just touching himself had almost made him overload right there. He wouldn't be able to support Prowl and have his way with her at the same time if he was that excited.

He kissed her again, invading her mouth with his glossa. His lips scraped over hers, even as he switched his grip and groped to his left for the counter he knew to be there. He pulled her across the wall. Her doorwings shrieked almost unpleasantly as metal dragged against metal. He could hear the ping of her rods and gears striking the wall as he moved her.

Her legs tightened around him, teasing the edge of her port across his shaft

He froze, panting with unrealized desire, pressure building in his thighs to begin the thrusting that would bring him release.

He focused on her, the half-lidded optics that stared at him, the smile that curved full lips, moist with sweet lubricant.

Her optics flashed at him, and she shifted her weight in his arms. Her port teased over his shaft again, making him gasp and whine, and then she settled over him, and pushed down.

He slammed her against the counter, hips gyrating helplessly at the onslaught of sensation from his hardware sliding into her. "Ah-h, Pro-" He couldn't seem to form coherent words, unable even to find the lips he knew were near. He could only thrust at her port, her waist secured in his hands.

Her doorwings scraped against the bottom of the cupboard, a noisy counterpoint to both of their whimpering gasps.

She rocked into his thrusts, and he glimpsed her hands clenching the bottom of the cupboard and the top of the counter. He wanted to ask if she was comfortable, but the words refused to register in his processor.

His spark stirred, sending tendrils through linked systems that should not have been touched by his current activities. Shivers wracked his shoulders, and made his hips buck harder into her. He teetered on the edge of a system overload and he hadn't even scraped against her plug yet. "S-stop!"

Prowl froze in his arms, optics glowing in alarm at him. Her legs loosened around him, and she moved as though to pull away. "What's wrong?"

"No!" He clung to her, finding her lips. Another surge burst through his systems and he cried out, "Sunny, Sunny, stop!"

Too focused on the feel of her around his hardware, and pressed against his frame, he couldn't see where her optics turned.

Smug desire filtered through his bond, along with the awareness that Prowl had turned her optics to the doorway.

Her legs tightened around him and she met his thrusts again. She pecked at his lips, the smell of sweet lubricant sending spikes through his systems.

Sunstreaker touched his back, a soothing caress over his canopy. His brother stepped closer, careful not to hamper Sideswipe's rocking hips. Lips pressed against his neck, and Sunstreaker stroked the black audio horns lovingly.

He scraped across the plug at the back of her receptive port. A whine burst from a vocalizer strained with power surges.

She continued to hold his chin, kissing, nibbling and licking at his face.

Their bodies pressed against his threatened to overheat his systems. He couldn't stop though, the need to continue thrusting overrode all else. Not even the low warnings of his holding tanks could convince him to stop.

Sunstreaker stood to the side, his shaft scraping at Sideswipe's aft. The odd bulk of his brother's hardware informed Sideswipe that his brother had jacked into a peripheral. He kissed and nipped at his brother's neck and shoulders, hips moving forward whenever Sideswipe pulled back from Prowl.

Sideswipe stared at nothing, so overcome with the sensation of his lovers around him. He panted, focused on slamming his plug into Prowl's port.

When the connection was finally made, all three cried out in overload.

Sideswipe sagged against the femme in front of him, resting his head on her chest. "There was one, but she wasn't..." He moaned, gyrating his hips to feel the connection surge. "She wasn't... oh Primus, I love you."

Two sets of hands caressed over his head and shoulders and he honestly couldn't tell them apart from each other.

Sunstreaker pulled away first, stepping back to lean against the wall where the dispenser sat.

Sideswipe could feel the stirrings that was his brother's artistic desires and usually resulted in his more erotic paintings.

"Not sure I wanna do that, bro." He shook his head, forcing himself upright.

Prowl looked at him, confusion written on her face. Her neck bent at an awkward angle, and he realized how uncomfortable she must be. He hadn't even sat her on the counter properly, merely braced her back against it.

"You didn't mind with Nebs."

Sideswipe gently lowered his lover's feet to the floor. He inspected her back with his fingers."You _pay_ Nebs to pose like that." ::_And I don't think Prowl would appreciate the kind of attention that usually comes from you painting._::

Sunstreaker didn't reply verbally, but sent a mote of reluctant understanding through the bond. He snatched the cube from the counter and turned to fill it from the dispenser.

Sideswipe accepted the full cube, no longer caring about the additives he originally been looking for. He downed a third of the mid-grade inside and handed the cube to Prowl.

Prowl's optics flitted between him and his brother before she took her third and handed the cube to Sunstreaker. "I wouldn't mind posing for Sunny."

Sunstreaker frowned, cube halted at his lips. "Don't call me Sunny." He downed the rest of the cube and stalked off.

Sideswipe nuzzled his nasal ridge across her neck. "Trust me, Sparkles, that's the last thing you want to do."

Prowl pursed her lips, and then bent to scoop up his discarded plating. "Who's Nebs?"

He took the plates from her. "Just one of his models. A dancer. She usually goes by her stage name." He guided her out of the dispenser area and toward his bedroom.

They lay down on his berth together. His plating lay in an organized pile at the foot of the berth.

Prowl lay snugged against him, her hands stroking over his bare chest.

They spoke occasionally, but otherwise simply enjoyed each other's company.

Sunstreaker suddenly joined them, not even waiting for them to make room for him as he lay next to his brother.

His lover and his brother rested their heads against him and he shuttered his optics in bliss.

Primus, it was good to be home again.


	7. Meet the Family

Meet the Family

**Author's Note: **Taking a break from the smut to write a little bit (itty bitty little bit) of actual story. Don't worry, if I can actually finish the one I'm currently writing, we'll go back to the smut next chapter. Of course _that _chapter explains what's being referenced _this _chapter. So this may not make any sense yet. Any guesses? (aside from those "in the know") ;) Currently I've managed some semblance of chronology, which I _am _about to wreck with the (hopefully) next chapter. This was requested by Tiamat1972 on LJ. She wanted the twins meet the family. It was supposed to be fluffy, but didn't turn out quite that way. (This was also requested nearly a year ago... -blush- Can't believe it took me so long to write this).

* * *

Smokescreen liked being fashionably late. It let him quietly walk up, observing the three bots laughing at the table he was heading to. The red one sloshed his mid-grade, wrapped up in the grandiose gestures that accompanied his tale. He looked familiar, but Smokescreen saved that consideration for the moment, moving his observations to the other mech at the table. His golden plating shone with a recent waxing and he lounged in his chair, watching the other mech with keen interest. He had the air of assurance that he could have any mech or femme, assurance that had him glancing at the third member of their table with the confidence that came of knowing another intimately. It sent cold shivers down Smokescreen's wing panels.

He didn't like anyone looking at his sister like that.

She seemed oblivious to the golden mech's interest, but when she looked at him, she too had the look of one who knew the other far too well for mere friendship.

That couldn't be Sideswipe. No. the red one looked more like a Sideswipe. Indeed Prowl flirted shamelessly with him despite the glances she gave the other. Smokescreen couldn't puzzle out his presence.

The golden mech's optics suddenly locked onto him, and Smokescreen decided that it would be a prudent time to step forward and introduce himself.

Prowl followed the mech's gaze and her optics lit up. "Smokescreen!"

She stood, and dashed forward, her feet klanking rhythmically as she rushed into his arms. The two mechs watched them, jealous protectiveness vivid on their faces.

He squeezed her gently, hugging the femme he hadn't seen for over a vorn. "It's good to see you, too, sis."

She grinned up at him, dragging him forward with a tight grip around his wrist. "Sides, Sunny, this is my brother, Smokescreen."

Confirming the name for the face, Smokescreen tried to dredge up why he looked so familiar.

The red mech stood up, movements ponderously slow, optics wide. "That's your brother?"

Prowl paused in pushing Smokescreen into a chair. "Have you two met already?"

Smokescreen turned a puzzled frown on the mech. "I'm not really sure. He looks familiar…."

Sideswipe lifted his brow ridge. "Run a bet with a guy about who can get the most femmes and you only look familiar."

Every system in Smokescreen's frame froze at that, but he didn't have a chance to form a response because Prowl turned to the red mech.

"You used to live in Altihex, Sides?" She looked between them, optics narrowed. "What bet?"

Smokescreen ran through his memories, pulling up the mech's old comm. channel, and hoping he still had access to it. "_Ix-nay on the et-bay._"

Sideswipe tilted his head at Smokescreen, confusion knitting his brow ridge, but he addressed the femme, "I thought you'd looked into my history already, Prowl. You didn't notice that?"

Sunny rolled his head and reached out to whap the red mech across the back of his head. "That's before you became legit, dolt. Of course you're not going to be on the records."

Sideswipe blinked at his brother, his face almost blank. "Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that."

Sunstreaker snorted out of his strange headvents, taking another drink out of his cube. "Idiot."

Prowl continued to turn her head back and forth, looking at both mechs. "What bet?" she asked again, her doorwings twitching behind her shoulders.

Sideswipe laughed, setting his cube down. "Aw, you know how young mechs can be. It was just a small bet between me and your brother and couple of others. Think one of them was named Sp-"

Smokescreen blasted feedback over the comm., making Sideswipe stop mid-word and clutch at his audio horns.

Prowl turned to the mech, reaching for him in concern.

Smokescreen halted her with a hand on her elbow. "Why not let me take care of this, and you go grab your poor depleted brother some midgrade?"

She turned to him, her lips pinching down to a frown, her perceptive mind almost visibly working behind her optics. "What the frag did you do to him?"

He let go of her arm to raise his hands innocently. "Would I do anything?"

She pursed her lips and narrowed her optics at him. "You would if you're trying to get rid of me."

He let his optics widen in shock at the accusation, but knew he hadn't fooled his sister at all.

Still she huffed and stalked away, doorwings riding high on her shoulders.

"Ow. What the frag? Ow!" Sideswipe peered up at Smokescreen from where he still hunched over, holding his audio horns.

Smokescreen straightened in his seat, doorwings held stiffly out to the sides. "She does not need to know about anyone's involvement in that bet, least of all Springer's." He leaned forward, doorwings tilting back to catch his balance. "Maybe you'll recall the extra wager I made with Springer?"

Sunstreaker leaned back, and Smokescreen knew that he at least understood well enough to keep silent about it. Sideswipe on the other hand…

"Aww, frag! The was her?"

Smokescreen nodded once, lips pressed together in a thin line.

Sunstreaker sighed again from his vents. "She hasn't mentioned any other sisters it could have been. Not in my receiving range, at least. Stupid."

Sideswipe sat back in his chair, mouth hanging open at Smokescreen. "Slag. Oh, slag. You're right, we can't say anything about that."

"She's coming back," Sunstreaker murmured, draping his arm indolently over the back of his chair.

Smokescreen straightened, composing himself once more. He could see Sideswipe working out a story to tell the femme. They couldn't let her know about that bet.

The pit knows no fury like a femme scorned.


	8. One Size Does Not Fit All

**Title** One Size Does Not Fit All  
**Pairing** Prowl/Ratchet, Prowl/Jazz hinted, Jazz/Someone implied**  
****Warning **Femme!Prowl is a whore (thereby continuing in the butchering of Prowl's character /running gag) especially when drunk. (See?) Ergo, unfaithful Autobots + high grade = drunken dub-con. Discomfort of private areas.  
**Summary** Ratchet knew he was overcharged when he kept seeing a femme flitting about the room.  
**Author's Note **I thought it'd be kinda nice to start getting out of Prowl and Sideswipe's head in this verse. Let someone else do the talking and tell the story. Seriously though, I didn't think I'd pair these two at all in this universe. O.o

This also gives me the chance to touch on something that isn't usually covered in sticky fic. Size discrepancy. This presents the problem. I have another idea (whoring Prowl with someone else ;) with the actual solution. This takes place in the interim which Prowl has left Sideswipe to join the army, and then disguises herself as a mech, before she meets back up with Sideswipe. She's a fully functioning femme, with a healthy appetite.

Also of note, femme!Prowl usually avoids interfacing of any sort with the medics. Ratchet is also not an officer at this point. The medbay is ruled by one Crossbow.

* * *

Ratchet knew he was overcharged when he kept seeing a femme flitting about the room. She taunted him with every appearance, waving her black and white doorwings as she went from one table to another, obliquely flirting with the mechs.

And then he'd reset his optics and there would be Prowl in her place.

Maybe he ought to stop while he was still ahead, he thought as he eyed his half empty cube. Just before he downed the rest.

Prowl didn't exactly flit, but stalked, from one table to another, he broke up fights too close to exchanging fists, evicted mechs who tottered too close to oblivion before they tipped over the edge. He looked to be having a grand old time of it, and Jazz, from all appearances, seemed to be enjoying the way that Prowl swept about the room like a raging hurricane.

The way that Prowl moved sent surges through Ratchet's circuits. He desired to feel that frame pressed against his, to run his hands over the smooth torso under those armored plates. His hardware twitched at those thoughts.

Oh Primus, he _did_ need to stop.

Prowl appeared in front of him, doorwings twitching as he stood with his hands on his hips, staring down at Ratchet. He cast a look about the rest of the room, and then pulled a cube out of subspace.

"May I sit with you, Ratchet?"

Ratchet nodded in a vague direction. "Thought you'd rather sit with Jazz." His vocalizer glitched and bubbled, slurring his words with static.

Prowl lifted a brow ridge, his hips tilting to one side in a vaguely off gesture. "Jazz is entertaining someone. I doubt he'd appreciate the interruption."

Ah yes, Jazz was indeed entertaining a pretty mech, blue and wings-actual wings- adorning his shoulders.

Ratchet shrugged, never removing his gaze from the still twitching doorwings as Prowl sat down, back straight and rigid as ever, doorwings riding high on his shoulder. The medic caught himself before he reached out to feel them. Although he must have moved for them because Prowl's optics brightened and he leaned a little away.

Ratchet pushed himself to his feet to grab a second cube, only to find one pushed across the table.

"Last one."

Engine grumbling, Ratchet sat back down, taking the cube and downing a quarter of it. His fuel tank churned in protest, a warning appeared in his HUD of potential flooding of his fuel tank. "Who're you ta dictate that t' me?"

A smirk played along Prowl's lips before his cube hid it. "I'm _not_ going to be the one dragging your aft back to your quarters."

"I'll be th' one draggin' yer weigh' lightweight! Don' ever see ya drink."

A leisurely shrug pushed a doorwing up, catching Ratchet's optic again. "Just because I choose not to, doesn't mean I can't hold my high grade." He sloshed his cube once. "Fourth."

"This is only my... um..." Ratchet had to pause and calculate, but found he couldn't. "Well, slag."

A smile pulled on Prowl's shapely lips. "This is your last one."

"Guess so. Yer the officer an' all." Ratchet tipsily saluted Prowl, and Prowl lifted the cube in return, his hand wavering only slightly.

They sat in silence, finishing off their individual cubes; Ratchet no faster than Prowl as he found his coordination overcompensating from the charge.

They dispersed the cubes with a focused jolt of electricity, and Prowl stood, coming over to stand next to Ratchet. Ratchet glared up at him.

"Though' you said ya weren' draggin' me to my quarters."

"I'm not. I'm assisting you, now stand up an' lean on me." Words slurred more than normal from his own overcharge, Prowl hooked an arm under Ratchet's shoulder joint, hauling up, urging the larger mech to rise.

Ratchet stood, leaning a lot of his considerable bulk on the black and white mech's shoulders. One hand idly brushed the protruding chest plate, and Ratchet could make out the soft squeak of dental plates squealing together. His audio receptors must be on overdrive, too. Primus, he was slammed.

They walked out of the bar, Ratchet blearily aware of the optics following them out. Ah, Primus, there goes the Autobot gossip mill.

The lithe body swayed beneath him, his other hand brushed the slim waist and he found his palm and fingers curving to the form.

When was the last time he'd had a femme under him? Slaggit, when was the last time he'd even had a mech? Even Crossbow hadn't been available for a quick jolt. Stupid, slagging war, always keeping them stupid, slagging busy, doing... um.. things. Well slag, what was he thinking about again?

Prowl staggered under Ratchet as the medic stumbled, bumping their chassis together. The contact made Ratchet groan and he was peripherally aware of the soft voice urging him to stay online for a few more steps. Then that voice turned around and asked him for his code.

Code to what? Primus, he had so many numbers flitting about his cortex how was he supposed to only pick one?

Couldn't he choose the set that interested him the most? Like the dimensions of exactly what lay under Prowl's plating, confirmed by the give of the chestplate as Ratchet absently fondled the mech. Even though the reading just didn't match up to what he thought it should be. He was probably was so overcharged he was miscalculating or misremembering or.. or.. something.

The bot supporting him vented a sigh, and leaned away from the larger mech, almost toppling them both. Prowl grunted as more of Ratchet's weight ended up on him. He turned, coming nasal ridge to nasal ridge with Ratchet.

"Y' have a beautiful face, Prowl."

The blue optics flickered, and Prowl shifted the larger mech's weight. "Ratchet, could you stand up, I'm trying to open your door."

"Think I'm jealous of Jazz."

Prowl stiffened. He turned more fully in Ratchet's arms, sending the hypersensitive sensors afire with the scraping of their chestplates. Ratchet moaned again, dropping his head onto the mech's shoulder.

"There's no reason to be jealous, Ratchet. Crossbow is a fine-looking mech."

"Looked in a reflection lately, Prowl?"

"If you straighten, I can reach your access panel. Please?"

Ratchet groaned, lifting his head, the image in his processor erotic and delightful as he thought of those slim white hands on his frame seeking out any of his access panels and the cables and ports within.

"Ratchet..."

His hands tightened where they gripped, and he nuzzled into the long neck his face was buried in. He pulled the other tighter against him familiarizing himself with her curves as he matched them to what his sensors told him. He nipped his way up her jaw, awkwardly trying for the mouth pulled teasingly away.

He caught it, a rush of sensory information that had them both staggering until Prowl's back hit the wall. He delved into the gasping mouth, hungry for the touch of another. Each of the small squeaks coming from the petite frame fired along his relays, tightening his hands as they continued their explorations of the armored plating.

He dug his hands under the plating, feeling the smooth finish of the dermaplating. He swept his hand up, finding a loose joining on the chestplate that let him dig under and caress the soft metal that molded to his fingertips.

Sweet-smelling lubricant coated her mouth, and he panted as it burned his probing glossa.. Somewhere in his cortex he recalled Prowl's peculiar problem with his lubricating systems. He just never realized how it worked. Or how delicious his problem tasted. It made Ratchet that much more aware of his shaft scraping against the groin covering. Prowl slapped his hands at the wall behind them, and a door slid open, tumbling them both in

Perfect.

Ratchet staggered to come to a stop, barely managing to remain upright as he pawed at the white thigh braced for his weight.

"Ratchet, get a hold of yourself." The voice mumbled into Ratchet's questing mouth, switching between low and high pitches, continuing the assault on his auditory sensors.

"Rather keep a hold on you." He pulled away, ventilator rasping as he cast about for somewhere more comfortable to continue.

"That way." A rough shove had him reeling toward a berth. "Next time I'll let Crossbow come get you." The muttered words normally wouldn't have reached Ratchet's sensors, but their gain was set so high, he couldn't help but understand them. "Get on the berth." He shoved Ratchet down.

Ratchet grabbed the black and white mech, rolling him into a tangle and laughing at the curses spat at him. He muted the irritating white noise by smothering the words with his eager mouth, fingers digging again into the plating, trying to find the clasps that held the chestplate in place.

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind," but she didn't resist terribly much as he revved his engine at her. His hardware strained to be put to use, the curvaceous frame under him too much for his programming to stand.

Certainly she moaned back at him, as he unhooked her waistplates, tossing them off to the side, somewhere. He ground his torso against her groin, reveling in the feel of Prowl beneath him.

He fumbled at his groin cover, panting eagerly to release the overcharged energy that seemed to culminate within his shaft. His lips slid over Prowl's, his other hand dug deeply under his chestplate, scraping against the soft metal underneath. His glossa danced down her jaw and neck, biting him hungrily.

Prowl's hands slid over his side and shoulder, his glitching moans adding to the fuel that burned in Ratchet's arousal. The tactician spread his legs enticingly, barely able to reach his knees around Ratchet's waist.

Groin cover removed, Ratchet indulged in one more sweetly lubricated kiss, his glossa invading Prowl's mouth, and Prowl's glossa sweeping across his. Then he broke away, unable to stand the pressure anymore. He slid up, his larger frame covering the slighter one beneath him, some distant part of him that still thought clearly wondered if maybe he should have rolled them over, but that was promptly dismissed as he fumbled himself into the attachment Prowl had slipped on when he wasn't paying attention. Whenever that was.

The fitting was tight. "Didn't ya have a larger...one...unh, Prowl?" He pressed himself in, clutching at the bare waist.

Prowl didn't answer, his fingers digging into Ratchet's side, his frame shaking as Ratchet thrust in. A keening whimper answered Ratchet's next thrust, a sound so needful it sent a shiver through Ratchet's drunken processor. He panted at the air, squeezing whatever bit of Prowl he had in his hands as he shoved himself deeper into the port attachment. The friction burned, a pleasant tingle that made him drive himself in harder, eliciting another high whimper.

One of Prowl's hands disappeared from where he clutched at Ratchet, the scraping of joints against dermaplating indicating that Prowl wiped his fingers over his facial planes. He didn't meet Ratchet's thrusts, his ventilations ragged, and his engine chugging.

That nagged at something within Ratchet, only to be ignored in the sudden need to move faster. The pressure within his hardware built insistently, and a charge zinged from the tip of his plug. He couldn't figure out why he hadn't hit the attachment's receptive port, only continue in his motions until he scraped against the desired equipment. Ratchet jammed himself in after several unsuccessful tries, crying out at the sudden discharge that arced through his entire body, jolting the slight frame under him.

He rested his head on a balled up fist, aware of an insistent pushing at his frame. He groaned irritably, but drew himself out of the delicious femme under him. He slid down to snuggle against her neck, his systems shutting down.

As they did, he thought he heard someone with a sweet voice calling his name.

"Oh Ratchet, don't go offline! Primus, Ratchet, move! You're too slagging hea-"

* * *

The light hurt, he decided, shutting his optics against the raging power drain that ached through his systems. Someone lay next to him, and he had a blurry recollection of some sweet thing that had occupied his sensors since teasing him in the rec room the night before. Except that when he managed to focus his optics, Prowl's offline visage greeted his sight.

Fraggit, he must have been absolutely volting last night if he thought Prowl was a femme. What exactly had they done? They were both plated, not plugged in.. Then why did his hardware feel like it had been squeezed by a compactor. It only served to compound the overall ache from too much highgrade.

He moaned, and automatically brushed his fingers against the sensitive bits covered by plating.

His memory of the previous night consisted mostly of sensor readings (and Pit if he could trust _those_ readings.); he couldn't even remember who had started it.

He groaned again, feeling the numbness of systems that weren't receiving a proper supply of power. Scuffs marred his frame, a trail that led from Prowl's equally marked frame. Only Prowl's legs remained pinned under his weight, and he scooted off those out of courtesy to his superior. Had Prowl shoved Ratchet off before falling into recharge.

He could not resist the light caress of his fingers over the white hood, fingers following the curve of the headlamps, and down the seam of his bumper. His hardware didn't so much as twitch a line of code, in too much pain to even come online.

White fingers wrapped around his wrist, and Ratchet belatedly realized that the sounds had shifted from that of a recharging mech.

Prowl looked up at him, face neutral, despite the tight grip he kept on Ratchet's hand.

Ratchet blanched, pulling his hands out of the officer's grasp.

Ratchet opened his mouth, to speak, but closed it again without even clicking his vocalizer on.

Finally the other mech sat up, swinging his legs off the berth. He paused, resting his hands on the edge of the pad as though he needed to brace himself for the next movement.

"Prowl…"

Prowl's head turned toward Ratchet, giving the medic only a glimpse of optic, and hint of the finely sculpted nasal ridge.

"I'm late for an appointment with Crossbow, I should not keep him waiting much longer."

Ratchet grabbed his arm, disregarding the way the other mech immediately tensed at his touch. The shifting of his weight sent another jolt through his aching hardware. "That's it? You don't think anything else needs to be said?"

Prowl turned more of his profile toward Ratchet, dental plates clenched together. "What is there to say, Ratchet? We were both overcharged to slag, and not thinking straight. You clearly were not, as you seemed to keep mistaking me for a fragging femme. It will not happen again."

He had? Still, Ratchet didn't release the tactician's arm, instead tightening his fingers, aware of the way the metal bent under them. "Don't you have any slagging tact, Prowl? Is this why you and Jazz fight so much, because you spark his circuits and then up and leave him like it was nothing."

"This _was_ nothing. Don't try to make it into something it's not."

Ratchet sat up, systems heating with familiar ire, the pain from his hardware inconsequential. "It isn't that! I'd just like some damned courtesy shown when I've shared my berth with a mech."

Prowl glared down at a spot on the berth. "I'm sorry that I don't have time for pleasantries. I need to make my appointment with Crossbow."

Ratchet knew that Prowl saw the CMO often for the problems related to his lubrication systems, but…

"You don't have an appointment today."

The tactician's optics flashed, but his actions remained smooth and unhurried. A sparkpulse of silence and then, "Am I often on the schedule, Ratchet?"

Ratchet's fingers tightened briefly before going lax, until they only loosely encircled Prowl's wrist. "No."

"Then let go of my arm, and I'll be on my way."

Reluctantly, Ratchet released the mech, leaning back against the wall with another twinge of pain.

Prowl rose, pausing as he straightened, though any reaction had been programmed out of his face.

Had the lubrication malfunctions extended beyond their normal range? "Need help getting to the med bay?"

Prowl stood there for a brief astrosecond, but he didn't even turn to look at Ratchet. "I will manage." He tilted his head as though considering. "Thank you."

Hands clenched at his side, Prowl made his stiff way out of the room.

Ratchet sighed, and laid back down. He rubbed at his still sensitive groin plating, removing it to feel the damage done. Dents rippled across the shaft, throwing the jacks out of place. He switched his finger out and popped the metal back into shape with gentle tugs on the peripheral jacks. Why didn't it ever occur to mechs to carry the receiver accessories sized for larger mechs, Primus

Finished with that painful operation, he curled up on his side, one arm tucked under his head as a support and drifted off until his systems sorted out the power surges.


End file.
